After stints at the Brookhaven (Miss.) Daily Leader and Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger, LARRY GUEST moved to The Orlando Sentinel where he was the paper’s syndicated lead sports columnist for 28 years until his retirement in 2000. He became one of the nation’s most respected and well-known sports columnists. Three times, he was voted by his peers the Sports Writer of the Year in Florida, a state blessed with a plethora of colorful and gifted sports scribes.
His graceful, witty style connected with readers. He dearly loved to often break local and national sports news stories, a penchant that inspired the late Payne Stewart to give his friend Guest the teasing nickname “Scoop.” Those news breaks were spawned mostly by his ability to develop close, professional/social relationships with many of the sports headliners he covered – including many of the personalities featured in “Sports Icons ‘R Funny”, his seventh and most recent book.
Two of his previous books, “ARNIE: Inside the Legend” and “The Payne Stewart Story,” made various best-seller lists. The other tomes were “Making Magic” an account of Orlando’s acquisition of an NBA franchise with Magic exec Pat Williams, “Confessions of a Coach” with NCAA champion coach Norm Sloan, “Larry Guest Lite,” a collection of Guest’s more humorous columns, and “Built To Win,” with Atlanta Braves GM John Schuerholz.
Guest and his wife Mary reside in Cape Canaveral, FL.