2022 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 70
BY SENATOR BERNARD
A RESOLUTION
To commend Garland Forman Jr. upon receiving the 2022 Distinguished Service Award in
Sports Journalism and on being inducted into the 2022 class of the Louisiana Sports
Hall of Fame.
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches, Louisiana, each year
collaborates with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association in selecting a limited number of
sports figures who embody the character, skill, and talent worthy of being named to the Hall
of Fame; and
WHEREAS, the Distinguished Service Award is the most prestigious honor offered
to sports media in the state and recipients are carefully chosen after an extensive deliberation
by a forty-member expert panel based on their professional accomplishments in local, state,
regional, and national arenas; and
WHEREAS, Garland Forman Jr., an influential central Louisiana reporter, editor, and
publisher, has been selected for the 2022 Distinguished Service Award in Sports Journalism
from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association and a member of the 2022 Louisiana Sports
Hall of Fame Induction class; and
WHEREAS, for more than four decades, Forman has developed a reputation for
being one of the most honored, well-respected sports journalists in the state of Louisiana;
and
WHEREAS, a native of Pineville, Louisiana, Forman attended Louisiana College in
the late 1970s and started reporting while he was a student; and
WHEREAS, following college, Forman started doing freelance work for both the
Eunice News and the Ville Platte Gazette; and
WHEREAS, Forman was named the managing editor of the Bunkie Record in 1987
and remained there until the fall of 2018 when he was named the publisher of the Ville Platte
Gazette and six other papers; and
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WHEREAS, during the thirty-one years Forman was at the Bunkie Record, he served
as the primary reporter for high school athletics and outdoors; and
WHEREAS, in addition to his responsibilities as the managing editor, high school
beat reporter, outdoors writer, and photographer, Forman covered the Louisiana State
University (LSU) Tigers and other college programs throughout the state; and
WHEREAS, during his tenure at the Bunkie Record, he received over four hundred
Louisiana Press Association (LPA) awards for his writing including over an estimated one
hundred fifty awards in sports writing, sports photography, and layout; and
WHEREAS, Forman is called a "country journalist" by many; he is known for his
tireless work with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) and the Louisiana Press
Association (LPA); and he is the only person to serve as president of both organizations; and
WHEREAS, Forman has served on numerous LSWA All-State meeting boards and
he was awarded the 2005 LSWA Mac Russo Award for his contributions to the progress and
ideals of the LSWA; and
WHEREAS, Forman has served, and continues to serve, on the Louisiana Sports Hall
of Fame selection committee; and
WHEREAS, Garland Forman Jr., currently oversees thirteen weekly newspapers for
Louisiana State Newspapers group across north and central Louisiana.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
does hereby commend Garland Forman Jr., upon receiving the 2022 Distinguished Service
Award in Sports Journalism and on being inducted into the 2022 class of the Louisiana
Sports Hall of Fame.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
Garland Forman Jr.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
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