Grantland Rice covered sports throughout the first half of the twentieth century, a period that can aptly be designated sportswriting's Golden Age. He got his first newspaper job at the age of twenty, in a day when a sports editor was expected to write a newspaper's entire sports content in addition to covering more important beats. By the time of his death in 1954, he was widely dubbed the "dean" of sportswriters, with an established reputation in newspapers, magazines, radio, and film. As one who wanted to devote his lifetime to writing about sports, he arrived on the American scene at just the right time.

Rice was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, in 1880 to Bolling and Beulah Grantland Rice. His family was dominated by Civil War veteran Major Henry Grantland, his mother's father. When Rice was four the family moved to Nashville. He was about eight when the family moved...