Changes

==At the sports desk==

==At the sports desk==

Byrd began with ''The Shreveport Journal'' at a salary of $35 to $40 per week, an amount his family thought huge in that day.<ref name=rbrown>{{cite web|url=http://bossierpress.com/opinion-working-with-jerry-byrd/|title=http://bossierpress.com/opinion-working-with-jerry-byrd/|title=Opinion: Working with Jerry Byrd|date=November 26, 2014|publisher=''Bossier Press-Tribune''|author=Randy Brown (publisher of the ''The Press-Tribune'')|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref> He wrote a column for 2,131 consecutive editions of ''The Shreveport Journal'', excluding vacations and interrupted by a bout with gallstones but long enough to match Lou Gehrig's [[New York Yankees]] consecutive-game streak from 1925 to 1939. Byrd was ''The Journal'' sports editor beginning in 1970 for nearly  twenty-one of his thirty-four years with the publication. Afterwards, he wrote in 1991 and 1992 for the ''Minden Press-Herald'' in [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in Webster Parish<ref>"Byrd named sports editor", ''Minden Press-Herald'', June 30, 1991, p. 1.</ref>  and the ''Bossier Press-Tribune'' in [[Bossier City]] from 1993 to 2012.<ref name=ktbs>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktbs.com/story/31788185/iconic-shreveport-sports-journalist-jerry-byrd-sr-passes-away|title=Iconic Shreveport sports journalist Jerry Byrd, Sr., passes away|date=April 21, 2016|publisher=KTBS-TV|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref> He continued his column ''The Press-Tribune'' until 2013.

Byrd began with ''The Shreveport Journal'' at a salary of $35 to $40 per week, an amount his family thought huge in that day.<ref name=rbrown>{{cite web|url=http://bossierpress.com/opinion-working-with-jerry-byrd/|title=http://bossierpress.com/opinion-working-with-jerry-byrd/|title=Opinion: Working with Jerry Byrd|date=November 26, 2014|publisher=''Bossier Press-Tribune''|author=Randy Brown (publisher of the ''The Press-Tribune'')|accessdate=April 24, 2016}}</ref> He wrote a column for 2,131 consecutive editions of ''The Shreveport Journal'', excluding vacations and interrupted by a bout with gallstones but long enough to match Lou Gehrig's [[New York Yankees]] consecutive-game streak from 1925 to 1939. Byrd was ''The Journal'' sports editor beginning in 1970 for nearly  twenty-one of his thirty-four years with the publication. Afterwards, he wrote in 1991 and 1992 for the ''[[Minden Press-Herald]]'' in [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in Webster Parish<ref>"Byrd named sports editor", ''Minden Press-Herald,'' June 30, 1991, p. 1.</ref>  and the ''Bossier Press-Tribune'' in [[Bossier City]] from 1993 to 2012.<ref name=ktbs>{{cite web|url=http://www.ktbs.com/story/31788185/iconic-shreveport-sports-journalist-jerry-byrd-sr-passes-away|title=Iconic Shreveport sports journalist Jerry Byrd, Sr., passes away|date=April 21, 2016|publisher=KTBS-TV|accessdate=April 22, 2016}}</ref> He continued his column at the ''The Press-Tribune'' until 2013.

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/>

==Legacy==

==Legacy==

Sportswriter Nico Van Thyn, formerly with ''The Shreveport Journal'', ''The Shreveport Times'', and the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' referred to his friend Byrd, accordingly:

Sportswriter Nico Van Thyn, formerly with ''The Shreveport Journal'', ''The Shreveport Times'', and the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' referred to his friend Byrd, accordingly:

John James Marshall worked with Byrd on the sports desk of ''The Shreveport Journal'' for a decade. He recalled, "You never knew what would happen when the boss walked into the room. He might break out into a song or slam down the phone on some college coach. He was a walking encyclopedia and was a mentor, a father-figure, to me."<ref name=jwatson/>  

John James Marshall worked with Byrd on the sports desk of ''The Shreveport Journal'' for a decade. He recalled, "You never knew what would happen when the boss walked into the room. He might break out into a song or slam down the phone on some college coach. He was a walking encyclopedia and was a mentor, a father-figure, to me."<ref name=jwatson/>  

[[Stanley 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 Tiner]], 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 is interred 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 is interred 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>