Bill Larimer
Year of Induction: 1989 | Categories: Individual, Sports Writer
In 1947 Bill Larimer began his career as a sportswriter for the Salem Republican, predecessor of the Times-Commoner. This career was to span four decades ending with Larimer’s retirement in the Spring of 1977. It should be noted that when his career began it was on a voluntary basis. Later he not only wrote sports, but developed his own column, “Knothole News’ and became a correspondent for the Chicago Daily News, the Decatur Herald and the St Louis Globe-Democrat.
When Larimer began writing, the sports program included football in the fall, basketball in the winter, and track and field in the spring. Baseball was added In the early 50′s, and golf, tennis and cross country were initiated later.
One of the major developments late in Larimer’s career was the beginning of girls’ athletics. Volleyball began in 1974; basketball in 1975; tennis and softball also started while Larimer was writing sports. Larimer strongly supported the development of a girls’ athletic program in his column “Knothole News”.
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