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Byrd was the second of four sons of Frank Carl Byrd (1909-1988), a native of Ajax in Nathitoches Parish, and Frank's second wife, the former Annie Laura Allen (1916-2000), a native of Hosston, north of Shreveport in Caddo Parish. She was the daughter of John Cook Allen (1886-1916) and the former Martha Amanda Wynn (1886-1978). Annie's father died twenty-four days after her birth; her mother was a widow for sixty-two years.<ref name=osbornf>{{cite web|url=http://www.osbornfuneralhome.net/home/index.cfm/obituaries/view/fh_id/10282/id/3675208|title=Jerry Byrd|publisher=Osborn Funeral Home|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/frank-carl-byrd_104288159|title=Frank Carl Allen|publisher=ancestry.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/annie-laura-allen_100361130|title=Annie Laura Allen|publisher=ancestry.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

Byrd was the second of four sons of Frank Carl Byrd (1909-1988), a native of Ajax in Nathitoches Parish, and Frank's second wife, the former Annie Laura Allen (1916-2000), a native of Hosston, north of Shreveport in Caddo Parish. She was the daughter of John Cook Allen (1886-1916) and the former Martha Amanda Wynn (1886-1978). Annie's father died twenty-four days after her birth; her mother was a widow for sixty-two years.<ref name=osbornf>{{cite web|url=http://www.osbornfuneralhome.net/home/index.cfm/obituaries/view/fh_id/10282/id/3675208|title=Jerry Byrd|publisher=Osborn Funeral Home|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/frank-carl-byrd_104288159|title=Frank Carl Allen|publisher=ancestry.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/annie-laura-allen_100361130|title=Annie Laura Allen|publisher=ancestry.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

Jerry Byrd was born in 1935 at Schumpert Hospital in Shreveport<ref name=jwatson/> with a cleft lip and palate. He hence stuttered and for many years avoided public speaking. His first newspaper entry was a letter to the editor of ''The Shreveport Journal'', then Douglas Attaway, Sr., published in December 1948,  in which he discusses his recent [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]] camping trip.<ref name=services/> He first attended C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport and Bossier High School in Bossier City before he transferred for the eleventh grade to the since defunct Fair Park High School, at which he received more assistance to overcome his speech difficulties. He became the sports editor of the student newspaper, ''The Pow Wow'', and graduated in May 1953 from Fair Park, located near the grounds of the Louisiana State Fair.<ref name=osbornf/> With the help of Antoinetta Tuminello, his journalism teacher at Fair Park, he began his eventual mastery of sports writing.<ref name=nvthyn/> He was subsequently sports editor of the Northwestern State University ''Current Sauce'' college newspaper. He managed the NSU Demons [[basketball]] team coached by future 1969 Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer "Red" Thomas.<ref name=services>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/22/services-set-legendary-sportswriter-jerry-byrd/83406852/|title=Services set for legendary sportswriter Jerry Byrd|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref>His NSU colleagues called Byrd "Tweety" after the [[Walt Disney]] [[cartoon]] character. He had a visibly large head and was bald most of his adult life.<ref name=nvthyn>{{cite web|url=http://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2012/06/legendary-man-mr-byrd.html|title=Once a Knight: The legendary man, Mr. Byrd|date=June 8, 2012|author=Nico Van Thyn|publisher=nvanthyn.blogsport.com|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref>

Jerry Byrd was born in 1935 at Schumpert Hospital in Shreveport<ref name=jwatson/> with a cleft lip and palate. He hence stuttered and for many years avoided public speaking. His first newspaper entry was a letter to the editor of ''The Shreveport Journal'', then Douglas Attaway, Sr., published in December 1948,  in which he discusses his recent [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]] camping trip.<ref name=services/> He first attended C. E. Byrd High School in Shreveport and Bossier High School in Bossier City before he transferred for the eleventh grade to the since defunct Fair Park High School, at which he received more assistance to overcome his speech difficulties. He became the sports editor of the student newspaper, ''The Pow Wow'', and graduated in May 1953 from Fair Park, located near the grounds of the Louisiana State Fair.<ref name=osbornf/> With the help of Antoinetta Tuminello, his journalism teacher at Fair Park, he began his eventual mastery of sports writing.<ref name=nvthyn/> He was subsequently sports editor of the Northwestern State University ''Current Sauce'' college newspaper. He managed the NSU Demons [[basketball]] team coached by future 1969 Louisiana Sports Hall of Famer "Red" Thomas.<ref name=services>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/22/services-set-legendary-sportswriter-jerry-byrd/83406852/|title=Services set for legendary sportswriter Jerry Byrd|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref> His NSU colleagues called Byrd "Tweety" after the [[Walt Disney]] [[cartoon]] character. He had a visibly large head and was bald most of his adult life.<ref name=nvthyn>{{cite web|url=http://nvanthyn.blogspot.com/2012/06/legendary-man-mr-byrd.html|title=Once a Knight: The legendary man, Mr. Byrd|date=June 8, 2012|author=Nico Van Thyn|publisher=nvanthyn.blogsport.com|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref>

In 1965, Byrd married the former Patricia “Pat” Ann Hood. Their two children are Tricia Hagan and Jerry Byrd, Jr. (born January 1973), an educator, and his wife, Amanda, of Shreveport. After Pat's death in 2001, Byrd was reunited in June 2003 with Barbara Crouch Copeland (born November 1934), whom he had known from Fair Park High School from 1952 to 1953. The couple wed two months later. Byrd's brothers are Ronald James Byrd and wife, Donna; John Alan Byrd (born February 1940) and wife, Delaine, of Shreveport; and Thomas Everett Byrd and wife, Kay.<ref name=osbornf/>

In 1965, Byrd married the former Patricia “Pat” Ann Hood. Their two children are Tricia Hagan and Jerry Byrd, Jr. (born January 1973), an educator, and his wife, Amanda, of Shreveport. After Pat's death in 2001, Byrd was reunited in June 2003 with Barbara Crouch Copeland (born November 1934), whom he had known from Fair Park High School from 1952 to 1953. The couple wed two months later. Byrd's brothers are Ronald James Byrd and wife, Donna; John Alan Byrd (born February 1940) and wife, Delaine, of Shreveport; and Thomas Everett Byrd and wife, Kay.<ref name=osbornf/>

Byrd was a "hands-on" editor who snapped up details, such as making sure the sports photographers took a picture of the final tallies on the basketball scoreboard and that Bossier High School, which he had attended in his sophomore year, had two gyms used for basketball tournaments.<ref name=rbrown/>

Byrd was a "hands-on" editor who snapped up details, such as making sure the sports photographers took a picture of the final tallies on the basketball scoreboard and that Bossier High School, which he had attended in his sophomore year, had two gyms used for basketball tournaments.<ref name=rbrown/>

He penned six books, beginning with ''Jerry Byrd’s Football Country,'' a publication loaded with sports records, facts, and events that many would have otherwise forgotten. He was a pioneer in the coverage of [[African-American]] athletes, such as baseball players [Vida Blue, originally from DeSoto Parish, south of Shreveport, and James Rodney Richard at the former historically black Lincoln High School in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]]. Byrd was the first white sportswriter to cover all-black teams in Shreveport-Bossier City during the era of segregation.<ref name=jwatson>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/21/local-sportswriter-jerry-byrd-passes/83352250/|title=Updated: Hall of Fame sportswriter Jerry Byrd dies|author=Jimmy Watson|date=April 21, 2016|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref> His second book, ''Louisiana Sports Legends'', published in 1992, examines the achievements of the first 145 members of the Natchitoches-based Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=jwatson/> In 2002, he published ''Louisiana's Best in High School Football: Stories of the State's Greatest Players, Coaches, and Teams''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Louisiana_s_Best_in_High_School_Football.html?id=u60xJwAACAAJ|title=''Louisiana's Best in High School Football: Stories of the State's Greatest Players, Coaches, and Teams''|author=Jerry Byrd|publisher=Xlibris|date=2002|isbn=9781401054748|pages=448|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

He penned six books, beginning with ''Jerry Byrd’s Football Country,'' a publication loaded with sports records, facts, and events that many would have otherwise forgotten. He was a pioneer in the coverage of [[African-American]] athletes, such as baseball players Vida Blue, originally from DeSoto Parish, south of Shreveport, and James Rodney Richard at the former historically black Lincoln High School in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]]. Byrd was the first white sportswriter to cover all-black teams in Shreveport-Bossier City during the era of segregation.<ref name=jwatson>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/21/local-sportswriter-jerry-byrd-passes/83352250/|title=Updated: Hall of Fame sportswriter Jerry Byrd dies|author=Jimmy Watson|date=April 21, 2016|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref> His second book, ''Louisiana Sports Legends'', published in 1992, examines the achievements of the first 145 members of the Natchitoches-based Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.<ref name=jwatson/> In 2002, he published ''Louisiana's Best in High School Football: Stories of the State's Greatest Players, Coaches, and Teams''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books/about/Louisiana_s_Best_in_High_School_Football.html?id=u60xJwAACAAJ|title=''Louisiana's Best in High School Football: Stories of the State's Greatest Players, Coaches, and Teams''|author=Jerry Byrd|publisher=Xlibris|date=2002|isbn=9781401054748|pages=448|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

Byrd himself was a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, an honor which he received based on his receipt in 1996 of the "Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism" from the Louisiana Sportswriters Association. In 1992, the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches named him “Mr. Louisiana Basketball”. In 2005, the "N-Club" at Northwestern State University presented him with another "Distinguished Service" award. He was similarly honored by [[Louisiana Tech University]] in Ruston and the  Louisiana Track and Field Coaches Association. He was a charter member of the North Louisiana Track and Field Hall of Fame and an inductee of the Ark-La-Tex (Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas) Sports Museum of Champions.<ref name=ktbs/> He won more than fifty writing awards and was honored by the [[Associated Press]], [[United Press International]], the Society of Professional Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi), and the Louisiana Press Association.<ref name=services/>

Byrd himself was a member of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, an honor which he received based on his receipt in 1996 of the "Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism" from the Louisiana Sportswriters Association. In 1992, the Louisiana Association of Basketball Coaches named him “Mr. Louisiana Basketball”. In 2005, the "N-Club" at Northwestern State University presented him with another "Distinguished Service" award. He was similarly honored by [[Louisiana Tech University]] in Ruston and the  Louisiana Track and Field Coaches Association. He was a charter member of the North Louisiana Track and Field Hall of Fame and an inductee of the Ark-La-Tex (Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas) Sports Museum of Champions.<ref name=ktbs/> He won more than fifty writing awards and was honored by the [[Associated Press]], [[United Press International]], the Society of Professional Journalists (Sigma Delta Chi), and the Louisiana Press Association.<ref name=services/>

Stanley Ray Tiner (born 1942), a former editor of ''The Shreveport Journal'' who later for many years edited ''The Sun Herald'' on the [[Mississippi]] Gulf Coast, once described Byrd as “one of the great treasures of North Louisiana.” The occasion for Tiner's remarks was the  Jerry Byrd Roast benefiting [[Special Olympics]] and the Shreveport Track Club.<ref name=services/> Grieved over Byrd's passing, Shreveport sports legend Terry Bradshaw said that he "loved" the sportswriting legend.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/23/terry-bradshaw-says-he-loved-byrd/83417522/|title=Terry Bradshaw says he 'loved' Byrd|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 23, 2016}}</ref>

Stanley Ray Tiner (born 1942), a former editor of ''The Shreveport Journal'' who later for many years edited ''The Sun Herald'' on the [[Mississippi]] Gulf Coast, once described Byrd as “one of the great treasures of North Louisiana.” The occasion for Tiner's remarks was the  Jerry Byrd Roast benefiting [[Special Olympics]] and the Shreveport Track Club.<ref name=services/> Grieved over Byrd's passing, Shreveport sports legend Terry Bradshaw said that he "loved" the sportswriting legend.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/sports/2016/04/23/terry-bradshaw-says-he-loved-byrd/83417522/|title=Terry Bradshaw says he 'loved' Byrd|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 23, 2016}}</ref>

Byrd, who was a [[Christianity|Christian]],<ref name=nvthyn/>, died of natural causes at the age of eighty. He will be interred on April 25, 2016, at Sharon Cemetery<ref name=osbornf/> in eastern Claiborne Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=41832001&CRid=68945&|title=Sharon Cemetery|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

Byrd, who was a [[Christianity|Christian]],<ref name=nvthyn/> died of natural causes at the age of eighty. He will be interred on April 25, 2016, at Sharon Cemetery<ref name=osbornf/> in eastern Claiborne Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GRid=41832001&CRid=68945&|title=Sharon Cemetery|publisher=Findagrave.com|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref>

==References==

==References==