Robert Coover, author of one of the most acclaimed baseball novels, The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. (Random House: 1968), celebrated his 79th birthday, today. Though to many of us, The Universal Baseball Association is one of the pinnacles of baseball literature, Coover is probably more well known (at least in wider circles) for The Public Burning (Viking: 1977), a satirical novel about the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case. His only other sports-related work was the novella: Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears (Simon & Schuster: 1987), which profered an alternated history of Richard Nixon - a man obsessed with football and sex. Coover is a professor of Literary Arts and Writer-in-Residence at Brown.
Birthday greetings go out to Jerry Klinkowitz, today. Klinkowitz is the author of Short Season and Other Stories (Johns Hopkins: 1988) and Basepaths (Johns Hopkins: 1995). The former is a collection of stories about a fictional minor league team in Iowa. These stories were novelized in Basebpaths.
Klinkowitz was a member of the ownership group of the now-defunct Waterloo Diamonds (Midwest League) from 1978 to 1994. He wrote of his experiences in Writing Baseball (Illinois: 1991)*. His fictional works drew from his time with the Diamonds.
Currently a professor of English at the University of Northern Iowa, Klinkowitz is also a noted authority on the works of Kurt Vonnegut.
* reprinted in 1999 by Southern Illinois as Owning a Piece of the Minors.
Ohio native and author of Veracruz Blues (1996), author Mark Winegarnder turns 49 today. Veracruz Blues is often included in lists of the best written baseball novels. Winegardner did his homework on this one in fictionalizing the Mexican Baseball League's attempt to lure American players south shortly after World War II.
His other baseball works include a couple of non-fiction titles: Prophet of the Sandlot (1990), about Major League scout Tony Lucadello's last season, and The 26th Man (1991), co-authored with, and about, minor league journeyman Steve Fireovid.
In addition to numerous short stories and articles, Winegarnder is also the author of several other non-baseball novels, including Crooked River Burning (2001) and The Godfather Returns (2004). Winegardner is on the faculty at Florida State.
Birthday greetings go out to Michael Bishop (11/12), author of Brittle Innings (Bantam: 1994). Bishop is an accomplished and award winning author and poet, primarily in the science fiction genre. His account of baseball in segregation-era Georgia, though, in Brittle Innings is outstanding. And, in my opinion, Brittle Innings is one of those works in baseball fiction that should be included in a Top 20 (if not Top 10) list of the genre. Bishop's writing style, his development of a wide range of different characters, and unique story line, make Brittle Innings one of my favorites. Bishop has often focused on humanity and the human condition, and Brittle Innings is no exception.
Pete Fromm, author of How This All Started (Picador: 2000), celebrates a birthday today. Fromm is a four-time winner of the Pacific Northwest Writers Award, including one for How This All Started.
Fromm is also a prolific writer of short stories (over 100). He currently is on the faculty at Pacific University.
Robert Coover, author of one of the most acclaimed baseball novels, The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop. (Random House: 1968), celebrated his 79th birthday, today. Though to many of us, The Universal Baseball Association is one of the pinnacles of baseball literature, Coover is probably more well known (at least in wider circles) for The Public Burning (Viking: 1977), a satirical novel about the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg case. His only other sports-related work was the novella: Whatever Happened to Gloomy Gus of the Chicago Bears (Simon & Schuster: 1987), which profered an alternated history of Richard Nixon - a man obsessed with football and sex. Coover is a professor of Literary Arts and Writer-in-Residence at Brown.
