Class of 1948
Though his sports writing career began with The Greenwich Times in Connecticut, Ernie Salvatore invested nearly 60 years covering sports for the Huntington newspapers. He came to Huntington in the 1940s to attend Marshall University. When the U. S. entered World War II, Salvatore entered the army and served as an x-ray technician, and then, returned to Huntington where he worked as a sports writer, columnist and editor for The Huntington Advertiser and then for The Herald-Dispatch when the newspapers merged. Salvatore is said to be the first reporter at the scene of the 1970 Marshall football team’s plane crash. He retired in 1988 as executive sports editor, but he continued to write for the paper in some capacity until 2007. In April 1999, he received The Herald-Dispatch Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and in April 2008 Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards football stadium press box was named in his honor. Joe Manchin, state governor in 2008, recognized Salvatore as a Distinguished West Virginian. Salvatore is a past president of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association, and he was a member of the Sons of Italy, a member of Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists, an honorary member of Ebony Golf Classic Committee and a charter member of the National WWII Museum. He served as a member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and he is the author of the book, Ernie Salvatore’s Sportin’ Life.
Though his sports writing career began with The Greenwich Times in Connecticut, Ernie Salvatore invested nearly 60 years covering sports for the Huntington newspapers. He came to Huntington in the 1940s to attend Marshall University. When the U. S. entered World War II, Salvatore entered the army and served as an x-ray technician, and then, returned to Huntington where he worked as a sports writer, columnist and editor for The Huntington Advertiser and then for The Herald-Dispatch when the newspapers merged. Salvatore is said to be the first reporter at the scene of the 1970 Marshall football team’s plane crash. He retired in 1988 as executive sports editor, but he continued to write for the paper in some capacity until 2007. In April 1999, he received The Herald-Dispatch Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement, and in April 2008 Marshall’s Joan C. Edwards football stadium press box was named in his honor. Joe Manchin, state governor in 2008, recognized Salvatore as a Distinguished West Virginian. Salvatore is a past president of the West Virginia Sports Writers Association, and he was a member of the Sons of Italy, a member of Sigma Delta Chi Society of Professional Journalists, an honorary member of Ebony Golf Classic Committee and a charter member of the National WWII Museum. He served as a member of the Salvation Army Advisory Board, and he is the author of the book, Ernie Salvatore’s Sportin’ Life.
