Ernie Harwell has died

[oldredfordette]

Bless. RIP.

[smogboy]

How this man who with his voice over the radio brought so much color into our lives. He'd call a game so beautifully we were transported there with him to the ballpark. He made our summers special. He was brought into all of our homes as an invited guest. He was family.

And with his passing, we are all a little richer for having "known" him and a little poorer now that he's gone. God blessed us all with Ernie Harwell. May Ernie bless heaven the way he blessed us here on this mortal plane.

[daddeeo]

The guy was a class act in a town where they are sometimes hard to find.
He helped countless people start out in their careers with advice and a kind word.
I got to interview him for a book 6 years ago and he actually invited me to his house.
It was the fastest 40 minutes of my life.
I couldn't stop thinking [[while writing his responses), "I'm actually talking with Ernie Harwell."
I'm glad I recorded the session because I'm going to listen to it again tomorrow.
He was a true Christian who talked the talk and walked the walk.

[barnesfoto]

Never cared much for baseball, but had the good fortune to meet Ernie Harwell and take his picture. What a great human being! Detroit is a little emptier without his presence.

[Kathleen]

Tonight a little bit of Detroit's soul has left this earth! Ernie Harwell was a true gentleman, a real family man, and a friend.

I first heard Ernie on the air during the '67 Tigers run for the pennant. And in '68, the transistor radio and I were tight...as I lay in bed listening to Ernie call the game late at night...

Through the years listening to Ernie was like listening to a good friend!!

I always enjoyed how two of my great passions--the Detroit Tigers and Gone With The Wind, both of which I became acquainted with when I was in 6th grade--came together years later when I learned of Ernie's connection with Gone With The Wind.

Because of that, I had an opportunity to become acquainted with Ernie.
Now Ernie might not have recognized me if he passed me on the street, but he certainly knew my name as a Gone With The Wind fan when I reminded him from time to time.

I will always cherish my GWTW Ernie memories....

... Ernie walking in with Miss Lulu just before I was to give a GWTW talk at the Southfield Public Library. He had just flown home with the Tigers from Kansas City, and Miss Lulu and he headed to the library with some GWTW premiere mementos to share with me and the audience.

... Being summoned to the phone by one of my colleagues at the office. "It's Ernie Harwell, and he wants to talk to you!". Ernie was calling to ask if I had heard Lee Spence talking about "The Real Rhett Butler" on the Paul W. Smith show that morning on WJR.

... Chatting with Miss Lulu about a 1948 Atlanta Historical Society Open House hosted by Margaret Mitchell and her husband John Marsh that Lulu attended [[I saw her name in the Guest Register). She laughed about the fact that she and Margaret Mitchell were wearing the same "cheap dime store earrings" that day.

I shall always cherish these memories of Ernie.

My condolences to Miss Lulu and their children and grandchildren!!

[buildingsofdetroit]

I remember bumping into Ernie Harwell in the lobby of the Free Press a few years ago during the fight to save his beloved Tiger Stadium.
"It's an honor to meet you, sir," I said.
"The pleasure is all mine," Ernie replied with that warm smile, cupping my hand in a warm handshake.
He asked me my name, where I grew up and who my favorite Tiger was.
"Chet Lemon," I told him.
"Chester. Earl. Lemon," he said in the same delivery he had used 20 years earlier. That voice instantly transported me back to the summer of 1987, laying on my grandparents' floor listening to him on the radio.
Ernie had come there on business, but he made the time for me, just another fan, as I'm sure he had done thousands of times before. That's the kind of person Ernie was. That's the kind of person everyone should strive to be.
Looking back on it, when he asked me who my favorite Tiger was, I should have said: "Ernie Harwell."

[smogboy]

Looking back on it, when he asked me who my favorite Tiger was, I should have said: "Ernie Harwell."

I doubt if he would've said "William. Earnest. "Ernie". Harwell." in response. He was by far one of the humblest kindest people on this planet.

We were all blessed to have had Ernie in our lives in some way, shape or form.