News:

Welcome to the Golf Club Atlas Discussion Group!

Each user is approved by the Golf Club Atlas editorial staff. For any new inquiries, please contact us.


Jay Flemma

Marino wrote the book for the 100th anniversary of our beloved Oakmont and has been a quintessential golf writer for six decades!  It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

From the release:

VETERAN PITTSBURGH SPORTSWRITER MARINO PARASCENZO NAMED
RECIPIENT OF 2008 PGA LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD IN JOURNALISM

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. – Marino Parascenzo of Ellwood City, Pa., whose six decades of reporting - 37 years of which were spent with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – featured more than 60 of golf’s major championships and many of sport’s pinnacle moments, has been named recipient of the 2008 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism. Parascenzo is the 19th individual to be selected.  Parascenzo, 77, will be honored April 9, at the 36th Golf Writers Association of America Annual Spring Dinner
and Awards Ceremony at the Savannah Rapids Pavilion in Augusta, Ga.

“It’s an honor and a delight that The PGA of America will present this award to Marino Parascenzo, a consummate professional in all respects and someone who puts his heart and his soul into covering the game of golf,” said PGA of America President Brian Whitcomb. “Marino has been a trusted friend to PGA Professionals nationwide, and through those associations he has transferred their passion into his own work. There are few in his
profession who can achieve such a fine balance.”

“This is an award that I can’t figure out,” said Parascenzo. “I was doing something I loved. I just did it and I enjoyed every minute of it. I look at those who have been honored before me, and I ask, ‘What am I doing in this company?’ I know what they have meant to this game.”

In 1986, Parascenzo was named the 28th president of the Golf Writers Association of America, making him the second journalist from the Pittsburgh area (preceded by Bob Drum of the former Pittsburgh Press in 1959-60) to
hold that position. 

Parascenzo, who has never shied from injecting fun to supplement a story, once received the approval of then-U.S. Captain Arnold Palmer to pose for a photo prior to the 1975 Ryder Cup at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier,
Pa.

Though Parascenzo failed to secure a horse for the photo, he asked that Palmer lean outside a window holding an oil lantern. The next day’s accompanying photo caption read: “The British are coming!”

Parascenzo said that he entered sportswriting by accident, when the sports editor of the Ellwood City Ledger went to another job and stopped him in the middle of the street to announce that he was the new sports editor.

Other winners include Herbert Warren Wind, Jim Murray, Frank Chirkinian, Dan Jenkins, Jack Whitaker, Jim McKay, and Ken Venturi.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2008, 08:05:12 PM by Jay Flemma »

Mark Studer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Pittsburgh Writer Marino Parascenzo wins PGA Lifetime Achievement Award
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2008, 09:42:18 AM »
Marino is a great  writer , but more importantly , a humble and civic minded person from western pennsylvania.  I am fortunate to know him .  This is a well deserved award . He has covered the "major" professional events and with equal enthusiasm and talent, the local boys and girls junior events and human interest stories in the greater pittsburgh area. Marino,  continued good health and happiness doing what you enjoy!  Jay-Thank you for sharing this announcement.
The First Tee:Golf Lessons/Life Lessons

Jay Flemma

Re: Pittsburgh Writer Marino Parascenzo wins PGA Lifetime Achievement Award
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2008, 10:59:35 AM »
Marino has done some of the greatest things in all of golf writing.  He was president of the GWAA when the first woman golf writer got into the tent and he brought her around to meet everyone, easing her transition.  He fought for better conditions for writers while they were on the road covering tournaments, he was responsible for getting court reporting companies to handle doing interview transcripts, and he's written articles for every major magazine, including the programs for the U.S. Open and Major championships.  And yes, you;re right, he's as humble and unassuming a man as you'd want to met.

Plus he's a great story teller.  If you ever need a firsthand account of some seminal golf history story, he was there.  He gave me a great one about what it was like being in the media tent and the gallery at Southern hills when Hubert Green got those death threats in 1977.  He's a primary source, invaluable.

Plus he loves good jazz.  The only thing I can't get him to like is Django Reinhardt.  "I don't like violin in my jazz" he says.  "Gimme Dizzie Gillespie instead."

JohnV

Re: Pittsburgh Writer Marino Parascenzo wins PGA Lifetime Achievement Award
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2008, 03:23:17 PM »
I was fortunate enough to meet Marino a couple of times when I was in Pittsburgh.  He is a wonderful person and I'll second everything that Mark and others have said about him.

Michael Whitaker

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Pittsburgh Writer Marino Parascenzo wins PGA Lifetime Achievement Award
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2008, 10:42:22 PM »
Congratulations to Marino!

Also, congratulations to Jay Flemma who received two Honorable Mentions for his work...

INTERNET NEWS -
1. Melanie Hauser, PGATOUR.com, Steve Stricker wins The Barclays
2. Gary Van Sickle, golf.com, Scott Verplank's win was a dream come true
3. Cameron Morfit, golf.com, Padraig Harrington wins British Open.

Honorable mention: Jay Flemma, cybergolf.com, John Daly in the hunt at the PGA Championship; Cameron Morfit, golf.com, Zach Johnson wins the Masters; Eric Soderstrom, Golfweek.com, Greensburg's unexpected gift.

INTERNET SPECIAL PROJECTS -
1. Dave Shedloski, PGATOUR.com, Tiger's first decade
2. Jason Sobel, ESPN.com, Life as a caddie
3. Stina Sternberg, Golfforwomen.com, Blogs from the Solheim Cup.

Honorable mention: Brett Avery, PGATOUR.com, Blog from first day of Bob Hope Chrysler Classic; Jay Flemma, cybergolf.com, Bulls Bay; Ron Sirak, GolfDigest.com, A trip through Sweden.

Way to go, Jay!
"Solving the paradox of proportionality is the heart of golf architecture."  - Tom Doak (11/20/05)

Tags:
Tags:

An Error Has Occurred!

Call to undefined function theme_linktree()
Back