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University of California| Berkeley

Ron Fimrite Obituary

Ron Fimrite A memorial service will be held May 22 for Ron Fimrite, a former newsman and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle and a member of a nationally famous troupe of big name writers during Sports Illustrated magazine's literary heyday. The memorial will be held from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Washington Square Bar & Grill, on 1707 Powell Street, in San Francisco, a place that Mr. Fimrite helped make famous writing about the amusing international foibles of its softball team, Les Lapins Sauvages, and as the author of the 1989 book, The Square: The Story of a Saloon. A brilliant wit and raconteur, Mr. Fimrite was known to San Francisco Chronicle readers in the 1960s and early 1970s as the columnist who penned funny, whimsical yarns under the nom de plume Sporting Tiger. He worked for Sports Illustrated for more than three decades, writing classic tales about sports stars, including local heroes Max Baer, Jackie Jensen, Hank Luisetti and Billy Martin. Mr. Fimrite, who was 79 when he died April 30 of pancreatic cancer, was an omnivorous reader, a classic movie buff, aficionado of jazz and big band music and a dog lover. He wrote and edited numerous books, including two published this year: Golden Bears, an exciting history of football at his alma mater, the University of California at Berkeley, and a gripping history of the Olympic Club, an institution that dates back almost to the founding of San Francisco. He is survived by his son, Peter Fimrite, of Mill Valley; daughter, Debbie Fimrite, of Berkeley; stepmother, Emma (Ginny) Fimrite, of Shingle Springs, El Dorado County; and grandchildren Jackson and Lily Fimrite, of Mill Valley. Donations may be made to CAA-Ron Fimrite Memorial Fund at the Cal Alumni Association (Attn: Elena Vasquez), 1 Alumni House, Berkeley, CA, 94720 or to The San Francisco SPCA Hearing Dog Program, 2500 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle on May 16, 2010.

Memories and Condolences
for Ron Fimrite

16 Entries

June 10, 2010

A Tribute to Ron Fimrite
WSB&G
May 22 2010

In 35-years in San Francisco, I have witnessed only two demonstrable miracles. Both, at least peripherally, involved Ron Fimrite.

The first was the Loma Prieta earthquake. I mean, if you are God, have a natural disaster in the queue, and want to minimize casualties, what do you do?

You start the shaking five minutes before the first pitch of the first World Series game between the two local major league teams. Peter Magowan had asked Ron and I to think about collaborating about a book on the 1989 Giants. Even if that didn’t work out – the Giants did after all go down in four straight - it lead to some wonderfully deep discussions about the sacred nature of baseball and the profane exploitation of the quake.

In the quake’s wake Ron was an early returnee to the WSB&G and his advice to freelancers like myself was to get the hell out of the bar, get in front of a typewriter and get contracts for as many earthquake-related stories as possible. Thanks to Ron’s writerly advice, fall 1989 was an almost indecently fat, happy time for some of the city’s ink-stained free lancers.

The other act of divine intervention took place right here under the shadow of Saint Peters and Paul. It was the summer of 2002 and involved Guy Ferre’s decision to return the restaurant he had redone and renamed “Café Cobalt,” to its once and future glory as the “Washington Square Bar & Grill.” For that, we largely had Ron and Linda Fimrite to thank.

Of course, the “re-vision” of the WSB&G was motivated in part by necessity. Ferre had created Café Cobalt as a watering spot for the twenty- and thirty-somethings who had flocked to San Francisco to make their fortunes in the terra infirma of the Internet.

They were the dogfood.com generation that dreamt of Internet riches, watched instead as the bubble burst, picked up their technology marbles and left San Francisco en masse one week in August 2002.

Although they modestly denied it, it had been Ron and Linda who then began gently working on Ferri to bring back The Square. When the deed was done, and it was done beautifully, Ron could again be found hosting his informal literary gatherings at one of the front-window tables, while Linda dispensed psychological, romantic and political advise in her guise as lunch hostess.

As I have heard it, in September 2002, with the WSB&G being refurbished, amity seemed to break out all over North Beach. I have heard that Ed Moose even found the original WSB&G awnings and gave them to Ferri as a good luck token.

With the extinction of the dot-comers, North Beach grew exceedingly quiet. Until, that is, the locals stuck their noses out of their rent-controlled apartments and discovered that there was room again at the local inns and taverns. When Guy Ferri welcomed back the North Beach regulars to the WSB&G, he did so in breathtaking fashion. Guy had been able to track down the photos, artwork, paraphernalia from Ed Moose’s Laupin Sauvage softball team, and administered the correct shade of cotto red to recreate “the Square” in exacting detail.

The only thing that was missing was the framed front page of a 1938 Daily Cal hung off to the side of the men’s room urinal. It was properly and ceremoniously replaced by one of Ron Fimrite’s exquisite essays of the exact micturational length that Herb Caen believed daily writing should be. It was, it seemed at the time, a bona fide San Francisco miracle.

You could look it up. “The Washington Square Bar & Grill,” was again, arguably the best saloon in the world and had the nicknames to prove it. It was called “The Washington Square Bar & Grill,” “WSB&G “The Washbag,” as Herb Caen discordantly named it. It was even, after an evening of heavy imbibing, simply “The ‘Bag.”

The true, according-to-Hoyle, name however, was what Ron Fimrite said it was in his wondrous book: “The Square.” Ron’s correctness about the name, like his greatness as a writer is amply demonstrated in a near-miraculous, Haiku-like turn of phrase from his book, in which he characterized “The Square” as “a place with a long bar and a short menu.” Like so much of Ron’s work it was simply perfect, no more, no less.

Unfortunately, miracles too have an expiration date. We are thus here today to honor a miraculous man whose writing, like his saloon, like his life, will remain a window onto a less surly, smarter, happier world that he lived in and fortunately for all of us, wrote about.

Ron Fimrite: adieu.

Richard Rapaport

Deborah Rich

May 31, 2010

Debbie and Peter my deepest condolences on the loss of your beloved father. My prayers for your and your entire family's hearts to heal and remember all the good times, lessons learned and the difference he made in your lives. I regret never having had a chance to meet him in person, but am grateful we had an opportunity to talk on the phone a few times, while helping to type one of his books. I found him to be pleasant, sweet and someone with an amazing ability to tell a story that brought me back to days gone by. Thanks for the memories "dad". I also find it really cool who he selected to be the recipient of donations in his memory.

May 25, 2010

All my sympathy to the family on the death of your dad and grandfather- Ron Fimrite, a very talented and successful writer. I remember with fondness the sociability of the Fimreite clan- their wit and their capacity to have a good time. -My dad, uncles, aunts and my dear cousin Ron ..God bless you. Love, Peggy Fimreite-Wentz (east bay area)

Debbie Fimrite

May 20, 2010

Thank you all for your condolences and expressions of love and friendship for my father!

I need to make a correction to the last paragraph of my father's obituary so any donations will go to the right place:

Donations for the Hearing Dog Program can be made to HDP-Ron Fimrite Memorial Fund.

The WRONG Agency and Address were provided in the Sunday Chronicle obituary for the HEARING DOG PROGRAM The correct address should be:

HEARING DOG PROGRAM
2912 Diamond Street Suite 221
San Francisco, CA 94131-3208

http://www.hearingdogprogram.org/contact.php

Gerald Fleming

May 18, 2010

Ah, as a native SF boy I grew up reading your dad's/grandad's columns. Best to all of you. He was an engaging, intelligent writer of a mold they're not making anymore.

Gerald Fleming

Ron, back row third from the left, with cousins 1970

Sheila Fimreite

May 17, 2010

Really young Fimrite

May 17, 2010

Young Fimrite

May 17, 2010

Ron's High School Graduation Picture

Sheila Fimreite

May 17, 2010

Ron and Linda with Ron's Dad, Les and wife Ginny

May 17, 2010

Ron with cousins Patty, Sheilla and Peggy 1986

Sheila Fimreite

May 17, 2010

brenda daniel

May 17, 2010

No bond is as great as that between a parent and child. My deepest condolences are with you as you grieve.

Sheila Fimreite

May 16, 2010

My Dear Ron - You will always be in my heart. I loved you and your parents, and had some good times at your house in Oakland, when I was young. I have been so proud of your accomplishments and to be able to say that I am your cousin. I am comforted in knowing that you had a fulfilling professional life and, as far as I know, you found love with your wife, Linda.

To your dear children, Debbie and Peter, I wish you the comfort of loving friends and family, as you recover from the loss of your Dad. I am here if you need me. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
Love, Sheila

Peter Hanson

May 16, 2010

A good man...

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