Parascenzo to receive PGA lifetime honor
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."
Born in Ellwood City, Pa., about an hour north of Pittsburgh, Parascenzo grew up being inspired by many of the country's foremost sportswriters and authors. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, and after his discharge completed his college education in 1957 at Penn State University. He began his professional career as a utility staffer for the Ellwood City Ledger. After brief stints at several other newspapers, Parascenzo joined The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette sports staff in 1964. He served as the beat writer on college football and basketball, covering the University of Pittsburgh, Penn State and Duquesne University. He also covered Pittsburgh's professional teams -- the Steelers, the Pirates and the Penguins. Those beats carried him to the World Series, along with NFL and major league baseball playoff coverage.
Parascenzo was introduced to golf coverage on the local amateur level while with The Ellwood City Ledger. His first professional event was the 1960 PGA Championship at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
He also proved himself capable of changing with the times, writing online for PGA.com and continues as a regular contributor to InsideTheRopes.com."I went to watch Arnold Palmer try to conquer the monster 16th," said Parascenzo. "He made an 8 instead, and Jay Hebert was the winner. I was so green, I didn't even go into the press tent. I didn't know I was allowed."
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.
"That moment has led me to many wonderful times. Covering golf has been a great blessing. It is the greatest of the games. The past generation of players understood the work of a journalist. It has unfortunately evolved to where we are a nuisance. I think Arnie and Jack (Nicklaus) would tell you the same thing."
Parascenzo said that the joy he finds in covering golf is conveying to the public the game's difficulties even for the most talented players.
"Writing about a won or lost championship has never been my primary reason for being there," said Parascenzo. "I was always looking for the story from a player's perspective that gave you a texture you could not get any other way. At the 1987 British Open at Muirfield, I wrote about Arnold Palmer making a 10 on a hole. A lot of us can make a 10, but when Arnold Palmer makes a 10, that is a story. Palmer proved that he is human, that nobody is perfect. The game is so crazy to begin with. And, the pros live with that craziness. For golfers, it is the lifeblood of the game."
Parascenzo also is a prolific freelance writer, in newspapers, magazines and now on the Internet. His freelance work has taken him to the British Open and to other tournaments overseas -- in Britain, Spain, Italy, the Caribbean, South Africa, China and Malaysia. His work has appeared in numerous magazines, including Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest, GOLF Magazine, PGA Magazine, PGA Championship Journal, Majors of Golf, The World of Professional Golf, Oakmont 100 Years -- The History of Oakmont Country Club. He is the winner of more than 20 national writing awards, and Pennsylvania state and regional awards. He was the 1997 Tri-State PGA Section's Distinguished Service Award winner and the 2004 Memorial Tournament Journalism Award recipient. Parascenzo is a former adjunct journalism instructor at the University of Pittsburgh.
He is the founder and chair of the Golf Writers Association of America Journalism Scholarship Program, which through the contributions of The PGA of America, USGA and PGA Tour, has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in aid to deserving college journalism students nationwide.
Parascenzo cited Nicklaus's victory in the 1986 Masters as perhaps his most exciting moment of his golf writing career. But he was quick to add to the list "most any shot by Seve Ballesteros," because he said, "it was an event" in helping readers understand how the Spaniard "became a genius in returning to the fairway."
Parascenzo and his wife, Leona, live in Ellwood City, Pa., and are the parents of a daughter, Marina.
Said InsideTheRopes.com founder Tom Auclair, "Marino quickly became much more than a contributor. He is now a part of our family. We congratulate him on this honor and are all very proud and lucky to have him as an important part of our lives."
The PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, first presented in 1989, honors members of the media for their steadfast promotion of golf.
The award selection committee is composed of representatives from The PGA of America, PGA Tour, USGA, LPGA Tour, Champions Tour, European Tour, Augusta National Golf Club, Golf Superintendents Association of America, National Golf Course Owners Association, American Society of Golf Course Architects, the National Golf Foundation and past recipients.
PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism Recipients:
1991 Dick Taylor
1992 Herbert Warren Wind
1993 Jim Murray
1994 Frank Chirkinian, Bob Green
1995 Dan Jenkins
1996 Furman Bisher
1997 Jack Whitaker
1998 Dave Anderson
1999 Ken Venturi
2000 Jim McKay
2001 Kaye Kessler
2002 Nick Seitz
2003 Renton Laidlaw
2004 Bob Verdi
2005 Al Barkow
2006 Ron Green Sr.
2007 Jack Berry
2008 Marino Parascenzo
Since 1916, The PGA of America's mission has been twofold: to establish and elevate the standards of the profession and to grow interest and participation in the game of golf.
By establishing and elevating the standards of the golf profession through world-class education, career services, marketing and research programs, the Association enables PGA Professionals to maximize their performance in their respective career paths and showcases them as experts in the game and in the $195 billion golf industry.
By creating and delivering dramatic world-class championships and exciting and enjoyable golf promotions that are viewed as the best of their class in the golf industry, The PGA of America elevates the public's interest in the game, the desire to play more golf, and ensures accessibility to the game for everyone, everywhere.
The PGA of America brand represents the very best in golf.
Return to Man About Golf archives