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Bernard Fernandez

What I Do

Bernard Fernandez is a native of New Orleans who was bitten by the journalism bug when he won a citywide Catholic schools essay contest for eighth graders. His first newspaper job was as a copyboy for the <i>Times-Picayune</i> in New Orleans in the summer of 1964. He has also been a sports writer at the <i>Houma Courier</i> (La.), <i>Miami Herald,</i> <i>Jackson Daily News</i> (Miss.) and <i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i>.

My Background

Bernard Fernandez is a native of New Orleans who was bitten by the journalism bug when he won a citywide Catholic schools essay contest for eighth graders. His first newspaper job was as a copyboy for the <i>Times-Picayune</i> in New Orleans in the summer of 1964. He has also been a sports writer at the <i>Houma Courier</i> (La.), <i>Miami Herald,</i> <i>Jackson Daily News</i> (Miss.) and <i>Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</i>. Bernard has been at the Philadelphia <i>Daily News</i> for 23 years. His primary beats are boxing, which he has covered for nearly 20 years, and Penn State football. During his career, he has served as four-term president of the Boxing Writers Association of America; received the Nat Fleischer Award from the BWAA in April 1999 for lifetime achievement; been inducted into the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of Fame (2005), and received 63 local, state, regional and national writing and public-service awards, including two firsts and a second in the APSE (Associated Press Sports Editors) writing contest.