Melvin durslag biography

Melvin Durslag, longtime Los Angeles sportswriter and columnist, dies at 95.

The Herald Examiner, rival to the Los Angeles times, with those sports betting lines, had a loyal following. 



Durslag, a  sports columnist who began covering Los Angeles in 1939, died on July 17, 2016 at a convalescent home in Santa Monica.

Durslag was born in Chicago on April 29, 1921. His father was a clothing salesman and his mother worked in a sandwich shop. 

He attended Los Angeles High School and joined the Los Angeles Examiner’s staff while still a freshman at USC.

He served in the Air Force during World War II and began writing sports columns for Hearst papers in the 1950s, penning seven columns a week for national syndication, according to Doug Krikorian, a former colleague. 


(photo credit: FreeRepublic)


In 1960, Otis Chandler took over as publisher of the Los Angeles Times and according to former sports editor Bill Dwyre, was told to hire a great sports columnist and it came down to Jim Murray and Durslag. The Times selected Murray in 1961 and the two

Melvin Durslag, longtime Los Angeles sportswriter and columnist, dies at 95

Melvin Durslag, a sports columnist who covered the Los Angeles scene for decades beginning in 1939, died Sunday at a convalescent home in Santa Monica after a brief illness, according to friend and former colleague Larry Stewart. He was 95.

Durslag was said to string “together words like Nolan Ryan strings together strikeouts,” in the words of former Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.

Durslag was born in Chicago on April 29, 1921, to William and Frieda Durslag. His father was a clothing salesman and his mother worked in a sandwich shop.

He came to L.A. as a child. He began his career while still a student at Los Angeles High School, according to Doug Krikorian, another former colleague. That first job had Durslag stringing newspaper stories for 10 cents an inch. He joined the Los Angeles Examiner’s staff while still a freshman at USC.

Durslag served in the Air Force during World War II and went on to a prolific career at what was later the Herald Examiner chronicling changes in L.A.’s sports world. He b

Mel Durslag

American sportswriter

Mel Durslag

Born(1921-04-29)April 29, 1921
DiedJuly 17, 2016(2016-07-17) (aged 95)

Santa Monica, California

OccupationSportswriter

Melvin Durslag (April 29, 1921 – July 17, 2016) was an American sportswriter.

Durslag began writing for the Los Angeles Herald-Express in 1939, while he was a senior at Los Angeles High School, and joined the staff full-time in 1940, while he was a freshman at the University of Southern California.[1] He wrote a sports column for Hearst papers in Los Angeles beginning in 1952 and had a long career at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. In 1989, after the Herald-Examiner went out of business, he joined the Los Angeles Times.[2] He retired in 1991.[1] Durslag contributed an essay on Walter Alston to I Managed Good, But Boy Did They Play Bad.

He also wrote a column for many years for TV Guide.[3]

Durslag was elected into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters AssociationHall of Fame in 1995. In 2000 he was inducted into

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