Former BWAA President Walt Steinsiek Dies on Eve of Bowl Expo
Walt Steinsiek, who served as president of the Bowling Writers Association in 1988, passed away June 27, 2010 of apparent heart failure while preparing to leave his Micco, Florida home to attend International Bowl Expo in Las Vegas. He was 84.
Steinsiek was widely known as “The world’s greatest bowling cartoonist.” He drew thousands of cartoons about the sport he loved, provided mostly without charge to various bowling organizations; but he also published a half dozen bowling cartoon books, the first in 1973, called Balls—Bowling of Course!
He followed that successful debut with his “Approach” series -- A Funny Approach, A Funnier Approach, and the latest, The Funniest Approach, in 2006.
Steinsiek also was the founder of the Bowling Cartoonist of the Year Award in the mid-1990s. The award has been presented to distinguished cartoonists who used bowling in their work. Winners include Peanuts creator Charles Schulz, Jim Davis, who created Garfield, and Dean Young, creator of the Blondie cartoons.
When not drawing cartoons, Steinsiek was writing about bowling. He started the Baltimore Bowling News (later Baltimore-Washington Bowling News) in the 1980s. He sold it and moved to Florida in 1992. In Florida, his weekly bowling columns have appeared in several Scripps Howard newspapers for many years.
Walt Steinsiek was passionate about bowling, and his work earned him several Hall of Fame honors and industry awards. In 2006, he received the prestigious Sam Levine Flowers for the Living Award. On Wednesday of this Bowl Expo week, he was to receive the John Davis Award for outstanding industry service.
On Memorial Day of this year, Steinsiek fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting his brother Henry’s gravesite in Holland. Henry was killed in World War II in 1945. Walt also served in that war as a proud member of the Merchant Marines.
Walt is survived by his wife Jane of 55 years. They have a daughter, Denise, who also lives in Florida.