Most of you letrunner's may may not know who he is, but Track & Field and Running lost their greatest ever friend and benefactor this morning with the passing of Cordner Nelson, founder of Track and Field News and indisputably the greatest Track fan in history.
THE T&F journalist pioneer of our sport.
A loss of the highest magnitude...amongst his many contributions to the sport was his "The Jim Ryun Story"...arguably the greatest book ever on track and field, and, while it was written in 1967, is still so very relevant today...thank you Cordner...we'll miss you.
MF
Very sad to hear this news. I was only discussing some of his work the other day. Condolences to his friends, family and colleagues.
my copy of The Milers by Nelson is falling apart. By far the most comprehensive history of the mile. Fantastic book.
The significance of "The Jim Ryun Story" cannot be underestimated. Along with the publication of Bowerman's "Jogging" in the same year, it was a seminal event in initiating the popular running boom that would further expand (not start) in the 70s after Shorter won gold at Munich. It was probably the first book by or about an American runner since those of Gil Dodds and Clarence DeMarr in the 30s and 40s (which were obscure to start with and by then were long forgotten). It presented an American runner as a hero. With lots of atmospheric pictures, it appealed to young high school kids. In the succeeding years worn copies of it were often handed fron one kid to another, telling them that if you worked hard and sucked it up when the pain came in the last lap, you could achieve something worthwile.
ventolin^2 wrote:
cordner is a 93y ex pig-farmer or some-such
he started the mag, but you going to go with that background credentials as the most incisive ???
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MAPIV wrote:
I suppose if he farmed wabbits you'd have the utmost respect for him. This may actually be your dumbest post among an avalanche of them.
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I am quoting this exchange from the Peter Snell thread to show how ventolin's crass manner is inexcusable. RIP Corder Nelson.
I agree that there has been no Track and Field fan greater than Cordner Nelson. The Magazine and Tours started by Cordner and Burt Nelson continue to give me great pleasure.
Cordner will be missed in our sport.
Orville Atkins
It should be Cordner and Bert Nelson.
They did a great deal for our sport.
Orville
I am saddened. I appreciate what Cordner Nelson has done for our sport.
Thank you Cordner Nelson
I was on a Track & Field News tour in 1997 to the Athens World Championships and then to Zurich and Monaco Grand Prix meets. Cordner was on the tour then and it was a bonus to be able to talk track with him. A few weeks after I got home I received a autographed copy of his book in the mail. Classy guy.
I remember in the early days of internet track talk, pre-letsrun, Cordner would share a lot of good stuff on the old darkwing listserv. Good stuff, a man with many great experiences in track and field. Thankfully, he and his brother went out on a limb to start TFN.
Great memories of rushing home to read and memorize the latest stats in Track and Field news. His particpation on the old darkwing listserv (along with many other legends) helped lay the foundation for TNF media and this site.
He continued to go on the T & N Tours right up till the end (not sure about this year, since we didn't go). His best memory, he said, was of Zatopek winning the triple Gold in the Olympics. He loved track and field, but he was someone who appreciated distance running, and gave it its due. That cannot be overlooked at all.
Track in the U.S. could have died without men like him.