Calkins: On Fred Smith’s 81st birthday, the city he loved said goodbye
A special FedEx plane with late founder Fred Smith's initials flies over the FedEx St. Jude Championship tour event at TPC Southwind Aug. 9, 2025. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)
Geoff Calkins
Geoff Calkins has been chronicling Memphis and Memphis sports for more than two decades. He is host of "The Geoff Calkins Show" from 9-11 a.m. M-F on 92.9 FM. Calkins has been named the best sports columnist in the country five times by the Associated Press sports editors, but still figures his best columns are about the people who make Memphis what it is.
Memphis threw a celebration at FedExForum that was worthy of Fred Smith’s life. Of course, Smith himself might not have liked all the fuss. He would have told us to get back to work.
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