by Al Barkow

With the passing of Herbert Warren Wind, we have lost the man, but not what he has left in the way of fine writing about golf. Thank goodness for print. Had he only written for the internet, some blog or whatever the hell they call it, Herb’s prose, his acute sense of sport and what it takes to be a superior player, would never reach generations that may someday appreciate the insights delivered in such a richly literate way.

Bernard Darwin was Herb’s hero and he made no bones about fashioning his own life’s work on Darwin’s style, attitude, politesse. His “uniform,” if you will, was invariably a tweed jacket, a shirt and tie, and woolen cap. Even in the warmest of weather at the US Open and especially the British Open, he dressed this way. At times I thought Herb had too much of the politesse in his profiles. He didn’t get down to the earth of his subject, because he was himself a very private man and felt he shouldn’t intrude on the personal lives of others. So be it. Others have taken up that cudgel, and from Herb we get the long view of games and the place various athletes have made in it for themselves and for history. Herb was at heart a historian of sport, and a very precise one. Many a time over the years when researching a subject, I have gone first and then last to Herb Wind’s books, because I knew he would be accurate.

Not to sound self-serving, but The Journal of the Shivas Irons Society, as conceived, is meant to perpetuate the kind of writing Herb Wind gave us. We thank you, Mister Wind.