[Alsfastball] Stars of the I.S.C. - - - - - - - - April, 2005 ---- Ed Kirner

[Al Doran]

From: "Susie and Gordie Wise" <sgwise at woh.rr.com>
To: "Al Doran" <aldoran at pmihrm.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Apr 2005 15:09:32 -0400



Stars of the I.S.C. - - - - - - - - April, 2005

(A Tribute to the Past, Present, and Emerging Stars of the I.S.C.)

ED KIRNER - - - Man of Many Hats – Many Talents – Many Achievements

The dictionary defines the word “Versatile” as:  Capable of turning easily 
from one to another of various tasks.  It defines the word “Valuable” 
as:  Of considerable use, service, or importance.

Those two words might BEGIN to describe the career of one ED KIRNER.  Doubt 
it?  Just take a listen to some of roles he has filled in his long career 
with the sport of men’s fastball:

Start with player, coach, manager, general manager, team organizer and 
founder, umpire, league secretary, public relations director, editor (and 
publisher) of a softball newspaper, free-lance writer, publicity director - 
- -  plus the role of ISC Commissioner and the title as the “longest 
serving President” that organization has ever had!.

And that is just for tasks he has performed for the sport of fastball!

Want more?  How about journeyman printer, fund-raiser, promoter of 
professional wrestling matches and of harness racing!!

And how about his role as a state finalist in the MILE RUN as a sophomore 
in high school!!

And Ed Kirner had a mighty hand in breaking the barrier which kept many of 
the nation’s top teams from competing in both ASA and ISC competition.

Not bad for a guy who endured heart trouble as a young man - - - troubles 
which cut short his playing career and re-directed his energies to - - - - 
- well, you can see the rest, can’t you?

Kirner’s nomination to the International Softball Congress Hall of Fame 
came from ISC pioneer Marv Casteel.  He was elected to the Hall in 1989.

In Casteel’s nomination of Kirner, he noted that, “In 1980, through the 
efforts of Carrol Forbes, Ed Kirner, and Chuck Lockinger, Aurora Home 
Savings and Loan entered the ISC.  They became the first ASA team of 
national level competition to do so.  This opened the door and now nearly 
all teams play in both the ISC and ASA.”

Ray Anderson, a legend of the game for his longtime publishing of the 
Fastpitch Softball News Bulletin, observed of Ed Kirner:  “I am in constant 
contact with teams and their PR people.  Whenever any media called on Ed 
for information about the Aurora team, Ed was quick to furnish it 
efficiently and quickly - - was a big help in the publicity for the game - 
- Ed is one of the best, if not THE best, in the game.  Fact is, if all 
teams had a PR man like Ed Kirner, the game would be much more prominent in 
the sports world.”

Dan Murr, then Sports Editor of the Aurora Beacon News, wrote a feature 
article focusing on Kirner.  Some of the career highlights which Murr 
mentioned included:

    * Associated with the sport since his graduation from high school (East 
Aurora H.S. – class of ’51);
    * Secretary of the Aurora City League for seven years;
    * Associated with Hartman’s Supermarket team through eight city 
championship seasons;
    * Publicity/Public Relations Director for the Home Savings and Loan 
team beginning in 1973;
    * Publisher/Editor for 15 years of Grand Slam Fastpitch, a newspaper 
dedicated to men’s fastpitch - - each year spending three months selling 
ads, writing stories, and soliciting articles from teams across the U.S. 
and Canada - - with all profits going to help finance the Aurora team;
    * Raised more than $9,500 to help weather a financial storm for Ray 
Anderson and his Fastpitch Softball News Bulletin;
    * Developed the concept of a team “Yearbook” in 1981; wrote all the 
contents; sold the ads, did the layouts and paste-ups, and sold the books 
to finance the Aurora team’s trip to Japan for that year’s Friendship Series.

When Dale Lancaster, former Sports Editor of the Aurora Beacon News, wrote 
a weekly column for the Kendall County Sentinel, he focused on the “hats” 
which Kirner was wearing (or had worn) with such comments as: “Ed Kirner is 
a man full of hats”.  Lancaster noted that Kirner had organized the May 
Jeweler softball team shortly after his high school graduation; had 
developed and supplied press releases for the Home Savings and Loan team 
to70 newspapers and broadcast media; and had been honored for “Outstanding 
Contributions to Softball” by the National Associations of Softball Writers 
and Broadcasters on two separate occasions.

Ed Kirner has been involved with the I.S.C. since that memorable year of 
1980 and , as noted earlier, holds the distinction of serving as President 
for the I.S.C. for longer (12 years) than any other President.

Kirner was honored in 1992 by the Aurora Men’s Fastpitch Association as 
“Man of the Year” and was cited “for Outstanding Contribution to Fastpitch 
Softball” - - certainly an award richly deserved.

Hats off to ED KIRNER - - - - Hall of Famer; versatile and valuable, a 
walking testimony to service to his sport and to the greatness of the sport 
of fastball!

April 20, 2005

By:  Gordon Wise - - - ISC Information Officer

<http://www.iscfastpitch.com/>www.iscfastpitch.com
<mailto:sgwise at woh.rr.com>sgwise at woh.rr.com





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