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Few sports figures, regardless of their position, have generated as much good will as Sparky Anderson, the legendary manager for the Cincinati Reds and the Detriot Tigers. Sparky met author Dan Ewald, in 1979, and thus was born a lifelong friendship. Along the way, Dan never took for granted the front row seat he had to watch one of history’s most memorable managers’ absolute mastery of baseball’s nuances and intricacies. But the most important things Sparky taught Dan were the “unwritten rules” of life, which he practiced meticulously. To Sparky, a real professional was as great away from the diamond as he was on it. His goal was for his players to be the best husbands, fathers, and community leaders they could be—he believed that was the mark of a winner, not the box score. Sparky had a gift for taking something as inane as the infield fly rule and turning it into a lecture on how to lead a more meaningful life. “Like a wizard, Sparky Anderson was white-haired and wise, and sitting with him was like visiting with an oracle. Dan Ewald, who spent more time with Sparky than any of us, beautifully captures the magic of Sparky’s wit, humor, and humanity in these pages. All baseball fans should read it.” – Mitch Albom, New York Times bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie and Have a Little Faith “Sparky taught all of us the right way to play the game and how to act like a professional. No one was closer to Sparky than Dan Ewald. The stories that Dan shares show the character of the man we all love.” –Alan Trammell, Detroit Tigers legend “Sparky cared about us as ball players, but more importantly as husbands, fathers and men. He was the greatest influence on all of our lives. Everything I do today I owe to Sparky.” –Kirk Gibson, Detroit Tigers great and Arizona Diamondbacks manager |
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| Posted in: Author signings, Author/artist interviews and lectures, Book Signings, Sports | No Comments » |
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True Legend tells the story of basketball phenom Drew “True” Robinson, whose once in a generation talent is a blessing and a curse. True buys in to his own hype, much to the chagrin of his mother, who wants to keep her boy’s head grounded–and suddenly trouble has a way of finding him. That is, until a washed-up former playground legend steps back onto the court and takes True under his wing. In this age of street agents promising riches to kids barely out of elementary school and college programs being taken down because of recruiting violations, True Legend is a resonant and inspiring novel in the Lupica tradition. Mike Lupica is a sports writer for the New York Daily News and a commentator for ESPN. He has written dozens of inspirational sports stories for children of all ages, as well as mystery titles for adults. |
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| Posted in: Author signings, Author/artist interviews and lectures, Book Signings, Sports, Young Adult | No Comments » |
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Few sports figures, regardless of their position, have generated as much good will as Sparky Anderson, the legendary manager for the Cincinati Reds and the Detriot Tigers. Sparky met author Dan Ewald, in 1979, and thus was born a lifelong friendship. Along the way, Dan never took for granted the front row seat he had to watch one of history’s most memorable managers’ absolute mastery of baseball’s nuances and intricacies. But the most important things Sparky taught Dan were the “unwritten rules” of life, which he practiced meticulously. To Sparky, a real “Like a wizard, Sparky Anderson was white-haired and wise, and sitting with him was like visiting with an oracle. Dan Ewald, who spent more time with Sparky than any of us, beautifully captures the magic of Sparky’s wit, humor, and humanity in these pages. All baseball fans should read it.” – Mitch Albom, New York Times bestselling author of Tuesdays with Morrie and Have a Little Faith “Sparky taught all of us the right way to play the game and how to act like a professional. No one was closer to Sparky than Dan Ewald. The stories that Dan shares show the character of the man we all love.” –Alan Trammell, Detroit Tigers legend “Sparky cared about us as ball players, but more importantly as husbands, fathers and men. He was the greatest influence on all of our lives. Everything I do today I owe to Sparky.” –Kirk Gibson, Detroit Tigers great and Arizona Diamondbacks manager |
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| Posted in: Author signings, Author/artist interviews and lectures, Book Signings, Detroit & Michigan, Sports | No Comments » |
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The 1968 season- hailed as “The Year of the Pitcher”- culminated in a legendary World Series pitting the defending champion St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers for what would become known as the last “pure” World Series before divisional playoffs were instituted. Led by ace pitchers Denny McLain and Mickey Lolich- as well as a lineup that included Al Kaline, Jim Northrup, and Willie Horton- Detroit battled back from a 3-1 Series deficit to win their first title since 1945, giving the city a much-needed boost following the previous summer’s devastating urban uprising. “Summer of ‘68″ isn’t a book about Detroit; it is bigger than that. But that year, the story of Tigers baseball resonated beyond the city’s borders. Wendel ably captures both how, and why, it mattered so much”. – The Detroit Free Press, April 15th complete review here! Read an excerpt from Summer of ‘68 here. Read a recent NY Times op-ed by author Tim Wendel about the 1968 season here. “No book better captures how in 1968 sports changed America—and vice versa. In splendid fashion, Tim Wendel takes us on a rollicking journey through an unparalleled year of tumult, tragedy, and, too, joy. Summer of ’68 reads like a novel brimming with surprising action, colorful characters, and fresh insights. I enjoyed every page.” Tom Stanton, author of The Final Season and Ty and The Babe Wendel’s seamlessly narrative juggles players’ quotes from 1968 and reminiscing in the present time. – The Joy of Sox Wendel is terrific at providing us with a balance of the game itself, the players involved and their ties to the situations surrounding the racial divide, the unpopular war and tumultuous political circumstances. He is able to describe the anger, the fears and the disgust felt by citizens and players alike. Most importantly and thankfully, he is able to meld the social elements with the play on the field. He provides smiles to the readers, by stringing together the historic events on the field that any true baseball fan can admire. As Wendel says, baseball and America changed forever in the summer of 1968. - Redbird Rants About the Author: Tim Wendell is the author of nine books including High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and the Improbable Search for the Fastest Pitcher of All Time. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, Washingtonian, National Geographic Traveler, Huffington Post, The Potomac Review, Gargoyle, GQ and Esquire. Tim teaches fiction and nonfiction writing at Johns Hopkins University, where he received the 2009 Award for Teaching Excellence and the Professional Achievement Award in 2004 and 2010. He is a Walter E. Dakin Fellow and Tennessee Williams Scholar to the Sewanee Writing Conference, and a Pen/?Faulkner visiting writer to the Washington, D.C. Public Schools. He received his master’s in writing from Johns Hopkins and a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from Syracuse University. Born in Philadelphia, he was raised in Lockport, N.Y. One of his first jobs was writing music reviews for The Buffalo Courier-Express. Since then he’s worked on both coasts and in between, covering everything from the Olympics to politics to the America’s Cup. He lives in the Washington, D.C. area with his wife and their two children.
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Tags: Baseball, Detroit Tigers, Summer of '68, Tim Wendel Posted in: Author signings, Author/artist interviews and lectures, Book Signings, Detroit & Michigan, Sports | No Comments » |
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