Donald James Carter was a legend in the world of bowling. He was a six-time bowler of the year, a 10-time All-American, and was a founding member of the Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) in 1958.

He was so good he was inducted into two halls of fame, the American Bowling Congress (ABC) Hall of Fame in 1970 and the PBA Hall of Fame five years later. He was even the first bowler to have a professional tournament named after him.

Carter was also the first bowler to win every possible major tournament in his era, which were the Bowling Proprietors’ Association of America (BPAA) All-Star, World Invitational, PBA National, and ABC Masters tournaments. He had a lot of “firsts” on his impressive résumé.

All of these accolades and more are why so many in the sport called him “Mr. Bowling.”

Something you may not know about the legendary bowler is that when he wasn’t hitting strikes in the lane, he was writing books.

In 1958, Carter wrote a book called “10 Secrets of Bowling” with the help of Anthony Ravielli, the illustrator of the book.

He also wrote a second book entitled “Bowling the Pro Way” in 1975 with George Kenney. It was also illustrated by Simon Pavkov.

Mr. Bowling learned about the game while working as a kid as, interestingly enough, a pinsetter.

Carter was born on July 29, 1926 in St. Louis, Missouri and passed away on January 5, 2012 in Miami, Florida from complications of pneumonia and emphysema.

He surely will never be forgotten as one of the greatest bowlers of all time.