George Shirk, an inquisitive writer with a quirky sense of humor who covered pro sports for many newspapers, including The Chronicle, and later wrote about technology, died Thursday of a heart attack in Bakersfield, his family said. In 2002 he co-founded the Mammoth Monthly in his hometown of Mammoth Lakes (Mono County) and wrote columns for the Mammoth Times until his retirement a year ago. Many of his columns for the Mammoth paper were about his beloved rescue dog, Fido. Mr.