FUN & GAMES
Bowl a Virtual Game in our Virtual Bowling Alley
Walt Steinsiek's affection for and devotion to the game of bowling began when he was 12 and a pinboy at a local bowling alley ("alley"—that's what they used to call 'em before they started calling them "centers.")
Even then, though the subject matter wasn't always bowling, Walt was drawing cartoons.
In World War II, he proudly served in the U.S. Merchant Marine, sailing in convoys to Europe on tankers and Liberty ships. He was an active member in the Artists and Writers Club of the Seaman's Church Institute of New York City and was gifted with a scholarship to New York University's School of Art in 1946.
In 1973, even though at the time it was considered to "too risque" for publication, Walt penned an all-bowling book of cartoons entitled Balls — Bowling, of Course!, that was very well received.
As a dedicated league bowler and fierce tournament competitor, Walt won the Kegler Bowling Club championship in 1971, beating out 650 entrants. In 1984, he was awarded the American Bowling Congress' Sponsor's Award for sponsoring the year's highest-scoring five-man team (3,704 three-game series). In addition, he helped organize several leagues in the Baltimore-Washington area.
In 1980, he conceived, edited, and published the Baltimore (later Baltimore-Washington) Bowling News. After a dozen years of publication, the paper was sold, and its originator retired to Southern Florida.
Walt was a past president of the Bowling Writers Association of America (1988) and a past president and life member of the Southern Bowling Writers Association. He received the Joe Richards Meritorious Service Award from the Metropolitan (N.Y.) Bowling Writers Association and is a member of its Hall of Fame. He also earned the Rip Van Winkle Award from the BWAA. He was inducted into the Greater Baltimore Bowling Association Hall of Fame in 1984 in its meritorious service category, and he was elected to the NCAUSBCA Hall of Fame in 2002.
In 2006, he was the 46th individual to be honored with the "Sam Levine Flowers for the Living Award." The award is unusual in that it recognizes someone in bowling who is admired, respected and, indeed, loved.
After Walt moved to Florida, he served as public relations chairman of the Florida Space Coast Bowling Association.
Walt's cartoons and illustrations appeared in bowling publications worldwide. He was under contract to the American Bowling Congress to furnish cartoons to be distributed to the bowling media. Many of those cartoons appeared in A Funny Approach and A Funnier Approach.
His last cartoon book was The Funniest Approach!
Walt died June 27, 2010 at age 83. He was scheduled to receive the prestigious John Davis Award in a surprise presentation at Bowl Expo in Las Vegas three days later.
He was married to his wife Jane for 55 years, and they had one daughter, Denise.
The love affair between the author and the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of bowling lasted many years.
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