his column thought Povich was a woman; in jest, Walter Cronkite even proposed marriage to "her." Shirley Povich Field, located in Bethesda, Maryland, is the home of the Bethesda Big Train (a team in the Cal Ripken Summer Collegiate Baseball league) and of the Georgetown University baseball team. The Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland on November 2, 2011, announced the creation of the Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, to expand its highly popular sports news program into a national leader in sports journalism education. "Most important, the center will serve as a launching pad for students to learn, actively participate in and develop the journalistic skills they need to meet the challenges facing them as the next generation of sports journalists", said George Solomon, the former Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor for Sports who would become the Center's director. The center was made possible by a $1 million challenge gift from Povich's children. The University of Maryland maintains the collections of Mr. Povich, including memorabilia, the documentary "Mornings with Shirley Povich", personal papers and work from his career at The Washington Post. The press box at Washington, D.C.’s Nationals Park is named in honor of Povich, cited as a longtime friend of former Washington Nationals Principal Owner Theodore N. Lerner by the team. Family He was the father of attorney David Povich, American television personality Maury Povich, and editor Lynn Povich. He was fond of giving Louisville Slugger baseball bats as birthday presents to his friends' children. Povich died of a heart attack on June 4, 1998, at age 92, a month before his birthday. A column he had already written appeared in The Washington Post the next day. His wife, the former Ethyl Friedman, died in April 2004. References External links Baseball Hall of Fame Shirley Povich tribute bio from The Washington Post Shirley Povich papers at the University of Maryland Libraries 1905 births 1998 deaths American sportswriters Jewish American writers American male journalists 20th-century American journalists People from Bar Harbor, Maine The Washington Post people American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Georgetown University Law Center alumni Writers from Maine BBWAA Career Excellence Award recipients Red Smith Award recipients 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American Jews