I was saddened by the passing of Jack Bowman, longtime Butler Eagle photographer, who died June 3.

Jack was a friend to my late husband and me. He was, more importantly, a friend of girls’ sports in Butler in the 1970s and 1980s.

Jack was probably the first Eagle photographer to take more than token or newspaper filler shots of any of our fine female athletes and their teams. He, along with the late, great Michael I. “Mike” Surkalo, Eagle sportswriter extraordinaire, who died Oct. 14, 2010, were two gentlemen who saw the potential in our female athletes and worked to get the word out about them.

Our daughter, Amy, participated in Butler girls basketball in the 1980s. We couldn’t help but notice the dearth of photos and articles about women’s sports in most newspapers. Now, thanks largely to Jack and Mike, they are commonplace, especially in the Eagle.

The girls work every bit as hard as the guys and put in as much time. They have won championships and titles consistently. Indeed, sometimes there are more female “athletes of the week” in all sports than there are males.

Mike’s columns were fact-filled, exciting and, best of all, accepting of women athletes. Even though Jack also had a daughter in girls’ basketball, he took photos (team and individual) of all the girls in all their sports.

They started a trend that continues to this day. The girls are in the sports section, where they belong.

Belated kudos to Jack and Mike.

Nancy D. Anderson,

Franklin Township