Jerry Byrd passes away

SHREVEPORT — He was with the Shreveport Journal from the day after his college graduation in 1957 until that paper’s final edition in March 1991. Byrd was sports editor for more than two decades and proudly owned a streak of 2,131 consecutive editions in which he published a column.

He wrote for the Minden Press-Herald and the Bossier Press-Tribune afterwards. He is a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame as the 1996 recipient of the LSWA’s Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism.The Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches named him “Mr. Louisiana Basketball” for 1992.

Byrd also received lifetime achievement awards from the LHSAA, Louisiana Tech, and the Louisiana Track and Field Coaches Association. He was a charter member of the North Louisiana Track and Field Hall of Fame.

He’s also in the Ark-La-Tex Sports Museum of Champions.