ERNIE HARWELL DIED TONIGHT

Legendary voice of Tigers baseball and one of the most beloved people in Michigan died tonight at the age of 92 exactly 8 months to the day he revealed to the world that this would happen. He passed away at his apartment in Novi with Lulu, his wife of 68 years, at his side.

I had the honor of talking with Ernie Harwell several times over two different stations in Detroit. It's my opinion the person taking his death the least hard is Ernie. Always a man of faith, when Ernie announced his illness 8 months ago I was struck with how absolutely sincere he was in his acceptance. In a world where we don't ever seem to know for sure if we're doing the right thing, where marriages come and go like a spring melt, and where marriages don't last 68 years and careers don't stay in one place for over 40 seasons, where we're too damn stressed out to know who we even are or what we really want, Ernie Harwell knew who he was. He knew he loved Lulu. He knew he was man of God. And Ernie Harwell knew he was dying and seemed so calm, so resolute in his faith, that he seemed the embodiment of peace.

Ernie Harwell was about the best storyteller you could imagine. He seemed to be an even better human being. Read Corinthians 13 and see how much of it can remind you of Ernie. I didn't really know him. It was just an honor to know of him.