Salter writes Cristil biography
Orders now are being accepted for the biography of Mississippi State’s legendary sports broadcaster. “Jack
Cristil: The Voice of the Bulldogs” is written by university alumnus
and veteran newsman Sidney L. “Sid” Salter, who is a weekly columnist
in The South Reporter. Printed by Pediment Publishing of Battle Ground,
Wash., the 224-page hardcover edition also comes with a free compact
disc of the radio veteran’s greatest Bulldog football and basketball
game calls. Best-selling author and fellow
alumnus John Grisham is providing the book’s foreword. Grisham also has
granted use of Jack’s performance in the audio CD of his novel
“Bleachers” to be used on the audio. Scheduled to
ship Nov. 4 – in time for Christmas – the $29.95 book/CD package may be
ordered online at
www.pedimentbooks.com/store/product/jack-cristil-the-voice-of-the-msu-bulldogs/.
Editions also should be in bookstores by Nov. 1. All
book-sale proceeds will support the newly established Jacob S. “Jack”
Cristil Scholarship in Journalism in MSU’s communications department. “It
has been a real joy to work with Jack Cristil in telling his story,”
Salter said. “Jack has worked hard and been a full partner in this
process. “The truth is that Jack’s life story
would have been an extraordinary story without his association with
Mississippi State,” Salter added. “I think that’s the surprise of this
book for Jack’s longtime fans and friends.” Cristil spoke about the book recently during a campus ceremony to name part of the local U.S. Highway 82 Bypass in his honor. Praising
Salter for his extensive preparation to write the book, Cristil told
the large audience in attendance, “My parents came from the old
country, and my father died when I was very young (and) I didn’t really
know him. My mother reared six children, so she didn’t talk very much
about things of that nature to us. I was just a kid, you know. “(Sid’s)
found out more about my parents than I ever knew,” the broadcasting
icon continued. “He’s done a world of research, and it’s been very
interesting to me. I don’t know how much we’re going to get into the
final portion of the book, the ballgames and the ramifications thereof,
but I’m very, very pleased with the methods he’s using, and I’m amazed
at the amount of research he’s done.” A longtime
Tupelo resident, Cristil served as the “voice of the Bulldogs” from
1953 until his retirement earlier this year due to health reasons.
During a 58-year career, he called more than 1,500 play-by-play
actions. His distinctive voice and focused
descriptions of actions on the field and court earned him numerous
honors, including the Lindsey Nelson Award as the nation’s premier
sports broadcaster. He was named Mississippi
Sportscaster of the Year a record 21 times and became the first
non-coach/non-athlete inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame. The
book’s author also has carved out a career of distinction in his home
state. In early March, Salter returned to his alma mater as
journalist-in-residence. MSU’s 2004 alumnus of the year, the
Philadelphia native was a John C. Stennis Scholar in Political Science
as a student. At age 24, he became publisher and editor of the weekly
Scott County Times in Forest, continuing in that role for many years
before becoming Perspective editor at the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. Salter
is a two-time winner of the J. Oliver Emmerich Award, considered the
premier annual honor of the Mississippi Press Association. |