Former Tribune writer, copy editor and Indiana HS basketball historian Earl Mishler dies

South Bend Tribune
·4 min read
Earl Mishler, shown here in this 2001 file photo, constructed a comprehensive web site of area high school basketball results and histories.
Earl Mishler, shown here in this 2001 file photo, constructed a comprehensive web site of area high school basketball results and histories.

MISHAWAKA — Former South Bend Tribune sportswriter and copywriter Earl “The Pearl” Mishler, who achieved statewide acclaim for his unparalleled devotion to chronicling and curating Indiana high school athletics, died in hospice care Monday morning after an extended illness. He was 79.

For decades Mishler was a staple of sports pages throughout Indiana, specializing in preps coverage for the Tribune, The Elkhart Truth, Logansport Pharos-Tribune, Muncie Star, Culver Citizen, Starke County Leader and LaPorte Herald-Argus. He later broadened his reach even further as owner and publisher of a seasonal weekly newspaper on fastpitch softball,and on the internet with his Indiana high school basketball website ETPearl.com. that was launched in 2000.

Both were the go-to mediums for anything you wanted, and didn't know you wanted regarding the respective sports.

More:Earl Mishler helped inspire John Harrell's Indiana High School website

Mishler, who was born June 15, 1943 in Plymouth and graduated from pre-consolidated Culver High School in 1961, spent 26 years at the Tribune over two stints. After serving as a sportswriter, Mishler moved to the copy desk where he rose to assistant copy desk chief, Sunday editor and finally night editor before retiring in 2014.

Twice an Indiana Basketball Coaches Association Media Service Award winner, Mishler was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Indiana High School Athletic Association in 1995. Ten years earlier he was inducted into the Indiana Softball Hall of Fame. Twice Mishler's coverage of softball was named the best in the nation by the Amateur Softball Association (ASA).

Former Tribune Assistant Sports Editor and current correspondent John Fineran, recounted first meeting Mishler in 1976 while covering Earvin — soon to be known as "Magic" — Johnson and his Lansing (Mich.) Everett High school team against Niles in the Michigan regionals.

"A few years later, I got the opportunity to work with Earl at The Tribune," Fineran said. "There was no one who cared about accuracy more. There was not a better editor at the Tribune, and there was no one who had a library of facts about “Hoosier Hysteria like him.”

Mishler, a 1965 graduate of Valparaiso University, also served as the official scorer of the Class A Midwest League's South Bend White Sox (now the South Bend Cubs).

To read a full version of Mishler's obituary, visit palmerfuneralhomes.com.

Many of Mishler's longtime friends and colleagues took to social media to honor him Monday. Here's some of what they had to say:

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA Indiana basketball historian, Tribune reporter Earl Mishler dies