Edgar Allen’s association with journalism and media relations covers over fifty years, beginning in 1941. He still remembers a telephone call three weeks after Pearl Harbor from the legendary Fred Russell, when Russell offered him a job with the “Nashville Banner” sports staff. Five days after graduating from East Nashville High, he joined the “Banner”, where he was to spend over thirty-seven years, including eleven as sports editor under Russell and twenty-two years heading up the newspaper’s extensive scholastic coverage.
In 1979, Allen accepted a position as Director of Media Relations with Churchill Downs in Louisville, coordinating year-round publicity and overseeing 200 media members annually at the Kentucky Derby. He worked there through eleven Derbies, serving as secretary of the Turf Publicists of America for four years and receiving the TPA’s Outstanding Service Award in 1988. Returning to Nashville after retirement, Allen joined the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association as a part-time consultant in media relations.
During his tenure as “Banner” sports editor, Allen was Tennessee Sports Writer of the Year in three different years, in 1961, 1973, and 1976. He also held the prestigious position of president of the College Football Writers Association of America and the United States College Basketball Writers Association. The very night Allen was inducted into the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, his old paper, the “Nashville Banner”, published its last issue. Certainly a bittersweet moment in the life of the great sports journalist.