In remembrance

Best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Killer Angels (David McKay:1974), Michael Shaara also wrote For the Love of the Game (Carroll & Graf:1991), that was published postumously by his son. The story was eventually made into a movie starring Kevin Costner.

For the Love of the Game tells the story of aging pitcher Billy Chapel, who sets out onto the mound for one last time after learning that his team is to be sold and he is unlikely to be retained. In a series of flashbacks told while Chapel is pitching against the Yankees, we learn about Chapel's life and loves and pains. The game - which he loves - turns out to be his greatest, though it changes him and his future life.

Shaara taught literature at Florida State and was the auther of five novels and a number of short stories, primarily science fiction. Shaara had a knack for developing his characters at the emotional and empathetic level. While The Killer Angels was awarded the top prize for fiction, it did not gain widespread commercial success until after the film "Gettysburg" (Ron Maxwell: 1993) was released, five years after the author's death.

Shaara's baseball novel, though never reached the level of success of his story about the battle of Gettysburg. It does, however, match up well with similar heartstring-pullers, such as How This All Started (Pete Fromm) and Prospect (Bill Littlefield). It's too bad we didn't get to find out if Shaara had any other tales of the diamond in him.

Michael Shaara (b. 6/26/1928, d. 5/5/1988)