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• Please use the drop down menu to select a certain speaker. • The Red Sox: Forward to Fenway 100 • Dan Barry • George Vecsey • Jane Mitchell • Talmage Boston • Harvey Frommer • Jane Leavy • Peter Gammons • Todd Gitlin • Jason Turbow • Christine Brennan • John McDermott • Richard Ben-Veniste • Curt Smith • Mika Brzezinski • Richard Reeves • Pat Williams • Jackie MacMullan • William M. Bulger • Mark Frost • Robert Kuttner • Larry Tye • Bill Keller • John Aloysius Farrell • Jim Nantz • Dr. Jean Rhodes • Dr. Michael Long • Linda Cohn • Lou Gorman • Robin Wright • Dick Flavin • Gloria Steinem • Peter Gammons, Maureen Mullen and Johnny Pesky • David Burnes, Red Sox great Tommy Harper, Luke Salisbury, and Dr. Sharon Freeman • Ron Shapiro • Faye Fields, Steve Jacobson, Bill Russell & Dr. Charles Ogletree • Tim Kurkjian • Frank Deford • Roy Blount Jr. • Bobby Doerr, Dominic DiMaggio, and Johnny Pesky • The Honorable Bill Bradley • George Vecsey • Dr. Andrew Zimbalist • Dan Shaughnessy & Stan Grossfeld • The Honorable Kathleen Kennedy Townsend • Sharon Robinson • Christine Brennan • Roger Kahn • Leigh Montville • Tom Oliphant • The Honorable Stephen Breyer • Bill Lee & Joe Castiglione • Jackie MacMullan Back to past speaker page... Thursday, November 10, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: The Red Sox: Forward to Fenway 100 Featuring: Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald, Gordon Edes of ESPN Boston, Tony Massarotti of the Boston Globe, and Jackie MacMullan of ESPN as Moderator 6:30 PM Dinner & Reception Esplanade Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) $55 Per Person Event Sponsors: Reservations: fenwayparkwriters@gmail.com Steve Buckley – Biographical Brief Steve Buckley has been a sportswriter for more than 30 years, and has been a columnist with the Boston Herald since 1995. Prior to joining the Herald, he was a columnist for the National Sports Daily, and covered baseball for the Hartford Courant, Tacoma News-Tribune and Portland Press Herald. He has appeared on Sportsradio 850 WEEI since 1993, and is a regular panelist on “The Big Show” on afternoon drive. He is also a co-host on “The Baseball Show,” simulcast on Comcast Sports New England and WEEI, and appears frequently on NESN. He has covered every major Boston sporting event over the past 15 years, including the Patriots’ four trips to the Super Bowl, the Red Sox’ two World Series championship victories and the Celtics’ run to the NBA championship in the spring of 2008. His lifelong interest in what he calls “the history in our own backyards” inspired him to write a piece for the December, 1991, issue of Boston magazine titled “Of Monuments of Men,” an exploration of the Albert S. Teeven Memorial Traffic Circle at Fresh Pond in his native Cambridge, Massachusetts. The article marked a turning point in Buckley’s career; while continuing to write his column for the Herald, he has written dozens of history-based pieces for newspapers and magazines. He re-visited the Teeven Traffic Circle in 1999, when he wrote, produced and directed the documentary “I’ll Be Seeing You: An American Story of World War II,” which aired on New England Cable News. In a 1993 piece for Boston, Buckley wrote about the so-called “other Joe Russo” who in 1946 was asked by operatives for Congressional candidate John F. Kennedy to put his name on the ballot in order to siphon votes from the “real” Joe Russo, a well-known Boston politician who was in the race. Buckley discovered the “other Joe Russo,” 75 years old at the time, living in a three-decker in Malden, Massachusetts, and became the first journalist to tell his story. Buckley is one of the founders of the Oldtime Baseball Game, an annual charity event at St. Peter’s field in Cambridge featuring local players who don throwback uniforms representing virtually every era in baseball history, from the minor leagues to the Negro Leagues. Since its inception in 1994, the game has raised more than $600,000 for local charities. He also sits on the board of directors of the Sports Museum of New England. Buckley is a 1978 graduate of the University of Massachusetts. Gordon Edes – Q & A with Page Lynn Hoppes ESPN Is Boston the most passionate sports town in America? Edes: I`ve never been to Tuscaloosa on a football Saturday. I have, however, been in the Montreal Forum for a Russia-Team Canada hockey game, Yankee Stadium during the World Series, the Big D for a Cowboys game, and the Spectrum (RIP) for a Flyers game. No team intrudes as much on the fabric of a region`s daily life as the Red Sox in New England, but passion flows deep and wide in plenty of places. Whatever they call the park the Marlins play these days isn`t one of `em. You`ve covered baseball since before I was born. What`s different about today`s game from when you first covered it? Edes: You mean, besides the fact that catchers now wear masks and you can`t put a guy out by throwing the ball at him? I`ll give you three things: the pre-eminence of Latin-born players; the domination of front offices by highly educated Ivy League-types over old-school baseball men; and the hundreds of out-of-town games you can now watch instead of the solitary Game of the Week broadcast. You`re a Hall of Fame voter. Is it harder or easier to get into the Hall of Fame? Edes: The chances of being voted in, IMO, have remained relatively constant. Jim Rice is not the first man, nor will he be the last, to be voted in on his last appearance on the ballot, a peculiar aspect of Hall of Fame voting. (What makes a guy more qualified to be a Hall of Famer in his 15th year on the ballot than on his first?) I do believe, however, that being chosen by the Veterans Committee is much harder now that it`s not just a matter of Ted Williams and a couple of others lobbying heavily on your behalf. You know I`ll have to ask: Do Bonds and McGwire make it? Edes: The weakness of support for McGwire, frankly, surprises me, and we have yet to face what to do when Bonds appears on the ballot. I voted for McGwire and will vote for Bonds; they can be judged only by the standards of their era, and as fraudulent as the steroids era was, I don`t see the fairness of labeling a few as cheaters when we know that hundreds more have gone undetected. You`ve had a colorful career. What do you think about newspapers? Edes: When I started in this business in Chicago, there were four papers, two in the morning, two in the afternoon, and the competition was fierce and exhilarating. The Sun-Times created and ran its own bar, The Mirage, as a way to expose all the politicians, building inspectors, etc., who were on the take. Fabulous stuff. Royko ruled, Annie Keegan was kicking down doors for women, Bob Verdi of the Trib covered a beat like no one I`d ever read, and Schulian and Israel wrote columns that should have gone straight from newsprint into anthologies. I fell for the business, hard, and have never regretted it. I also never imagined a world in which kids grow up never cracking a paper. Why do you love the game? Edes: Because I didn`t grow up in Remagen or Sao Paulo, Manchester or Milano. I have to first acknowledge the accident of geography, or otherwise I`d probably be making plans to cover the World Cup next summer. I also came of age in the summer of `67, the year of what Red Sox fans call the Impossible Dream. Because I never tire of the wizardry of Ozzie Smith or Omar Vizquel, the genius of Fernando Valenzuela or Pedro Martinez, the power generated by a bat swung as perfectly as Albert Pujols, the beauty of Ken Griffey running from first to home on Edgar Martinez`s double into the corner. Because of the game`s capacity to surprise and thrill, after all these years. If I didn`t love it, I`d have to explain why I spent my life talking to half-dressed men while my shoes were covered in tobacco spit and sunflower seeds. Best team in the next five years? Edes: With Jeter, Posada, Rivera and Pettitte all nearing AARP age, the Yankees may take a step back for a year or two, but you know they`ll reload. The Red Sox are transitioning, too, beyond the Manny-Papi glory years. I like the Phillies` chances of continuing their run for the next couple of years. Five years from now? Give them some more cash, and I`d say the Price-Davis-Garza-Shields-Longoria-Upton Rays. Best player in the next five years? Edes: Hanley Ramirez. Too bad no one sees him. Biggest surprise in the baseball world in the next five years? Edes: Bud Selig really does decide to retire from his "temporary" job as commissioner, and gets across-the-board applause for a job well done. What do you think of Twitter and social media? Edes: Wait, let me put down my tin can and string to answer that.   Jackie MacMullan – Biographical Brief Jackie MacMullan `82 was there when it happened. A moment so devastating that Red Sox fans still wince at the mere mention of it. 1986. Shea Stadium. Game 6. Bottom of the 10th. Twice the Sox came within a single strike of winning their first World Series in 75 years, but they had already squandered their lead when Mets left fielder Mookie Wilson hit a weak ground ball. It bounced beneath the mitt of first baseman Bill Buckner, scooted between his legs, and dribbled away. The Red Sox had lost the game, and Shea Stadium erupted. Up in the press box, MacMulllan got her orders: Wait on Buckner. The 26-year-old reporter wasn`t the most seasoned of the 10 Boston Globe sportswriters at the game. But she was fast, and the paper`s 1 a.m. deadline loomed, less than an hour away. Down in the Red Sox clubhouse, she watched as cartloads of champagne and T-shirts were hastily wheeled out. Then a grim calm settled on the room; Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd sobbed in the corner. A full 45 minutes passed before Buckner emerged from the showers to face a phalanx of TV cameras. Speaking so softly that MacMullan had to strain to catch his words, he described the ground ball as if in slow motion: "It was bouncing, bouncing, bouncing . . . then it went under." MacMullan raced back up to the press box to patch together her quotes as best she could. Adrenaline threatened to curdle into panic as her boss, sports editor Vince Doria, hovered at her shoulder. "You`ve gotta get it in," he kept saying. "You`ve gotta get it in." "It was the saddest story in Boston sports history," she says, "and I had nine minutes to write it." But write it she did, and the next morning her story gave Globe readers a glimpse of Buckner quietly trying to explain himself in the glare of television lights. Since then MacMullan has interviewed many a famous athlete for the Globe, Sports Illustrated or one of her three books. Stars like Tedy Bruschi, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley don`t just talk games and stats with her, however. They have all given her compelling stories they wouldn`t share with any other writer. "I write about sports," she says. "But I write about people in sports." Before MacMullan began to write about athletes, she was an athlete herself. At five feet 11 inches, she stood out in the corridors of Westwood (Mass.) High School, and girls` basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who suspected MacMullan could become a great low-post player, invited her to try out. "She`d make fun of herself because she`s one of those tall, lanky girls," says Delaney-Smith, now head coach of the women`s varsity basketball team at Harvard. "You wouldn`t look at the way she played and think she was that good." But that didn`t matter to the coach, as long as she kept scoring. Meanwhile, MacMullan had become frustrated by the lack of coverage given to girls` sports in the local newspaper. She complained to her father, who urged her to call up the paper. The sports editor tossed her a challenge: "Why don`t you write something and I`ll put it in the paper?" "I`m a kid," protested the 15-year-old. But before she knew it, the kid had her own column. Her subject: girls who were exceptional athletes. By the time she got to UNH, MacMullan knew she wanted to be a sportswriter, and the late Don Murray `48, director of the journalism program, encouraged her. Twice he urged her to take one of her stories over to the editors of the New Hampshire, UNH`s student newspaper. She recalls being too scared to take his advice. Finally, he said, "Look, either you want to do this or you don`t." Journalism professor Andrew Merton `67 played a different role in MacMullan`s development as a budding journalist. "What have I learned from this?" he would ask, waving her homework assignment in the air. "Nothing! Teach me something I don`t already know." At the end of the semester, she wrote a story about Mary Brady Legere `82, now a lieutenant colonel in the Army, showing how the 19-year-old ROTC student overcame her terror of jumping out of an airplane. MacMullan had at last succeeded in teaching Merton something he didn`t already know. At UNH, MacMullan also played basketball, walking onto the varsity team as a freshman. She led the squad in scoring her sophomore season and as a senior became a co-captain. She excelled, she believes, not because she had exceptional ability, but because she had a willingness to work hard. She applied the same work ethic to preparing for her career, completing not one but two newspaper internships--at the Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times and the Boston Globe. The Globe hired her as a sportswriter in 1983. From the beginning, her experience as an athlete helped MacMullan understand the players, and the extra stamina came in handy for dashing from press box to locker room. Once she got there, however, she was hardly made to feel welcome. In the early years of her career, she was bounced from a locker room by UMass security guards and told "You don`t belong in there," by Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach. She narrowly avoided injury when Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants threw a hair dryer at her. "In the beginning, probably 90 percent of the time I was the only woman in there," she says. "It was a huge issue--one that made you wonder whether you wanted to do the job or not." Not one to bear a grudge, MacMullan went on to establish good working relationships with some of the athletes who initially resented her presence, like former Red Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst, and she developed not only great respect but great affection for Auerbach. (She still wonders, though, if New England Patriots coach Bill Belichik will ever take her seriously.) Today she finds that the younger male athletes think nothing of seeing a woman in the locker room. Just as MacMullan had prided herself on working harder than other players on the basketball court, she was determined to do the same on the job. When she started covering the Celtics in 1988, she was the only reporter who attended both morning and evening practices during preseason training camp. When Larry Bird failed to appear for the annual Celtics media day, she found him at an evening practice, ready to vent. Angry about contract negotiations and convinced that the general manager was treating him like a rookie, the 32-year-old star vowed to negotiate only with Red Auerbach, then president of the team. MacMullan`s story on Bird`s discontent sparked a new, and successful, round of negotiations. Competition was a powerful motivator for the young reporter. "There was nothing worse than getting up in the morning, looking at the other paper--and they had something that you didn`t have," she says. "I just hated it." In 1989, she got permission from her boss to stay home for Christmas and meet the Celtics on the West Coast the next day. A Boston Herald reporter, on the other hand, flew with them and got the scoop on the contract extension guard Dennis Johnson was about to sign. "I got beat because I spent Christmas with my family," she says. "I didn`t have any children then. I did the wrong thing." At the time, MacMullan was on the road perhaps 250 days a year, and she eventually traveled to 48 states, South Korea, China, and several other countries. Although she missed countless weddings and ski weekends, she didn`t mind the travel--until the birth of her daughter, Alyson, in 1992. She hit a low point the following spring during the NBA quarterfinals. When the Bulls failed to clinch the series against the Suns in Chicago, she found herself flying west for Game 7 instead of east to husband Michael Boyle `82 and 1-year-old Alyson in Westford, Mass. When she got to Phoenix, MacMullan was so distraught that she left her bags at the airport and boarded the next flight home. She didn`t talk to her boss, sports editor Don Skwar, for five days. When she finally did, she was convinced that she had to quit. But Skwar urged her to stay on and travel less. From Skwar`s point of view, MacMullan was definitely worth keeping. To be a good journalist, one must a good reporter, a good interviewer and a good writer, he says, "and she`s off the charts in all three categories." Her current boss, Globe sports editor Joe Sullivan, adds that MacMullan has a singular ability to get people to share their innermost secrets. "They want to tell her their life`s story." In January 2005, Tedy Bruschi, a New England Patriots linebacker and two-time Super Bowl winner, talked with MacMullan about his early years as a pro. "I was crazy on the field, and I was crazy off it," he confided. "I had a chip on my shoulder the size of a boulder." He traced his struggles with aggression and anger back his parents` divorce and the class warfare in his hometown. "Did you ever see the movie `The Outsiders`?" he asked. "Well, the Oakmont kids were the socs [socialites]. We were the greasers." For the first time in print, he also revealed that he had licked a drinking problem for the sake of his wife and kids. Shortly after MacMullan`s story came out, Bruschi suffered a mild stroke at the age of 31. He turned away hundreds of requests for interviews. When he decided to break his silence six months later, however, he dialed MacMullan`s cell phone. Another player who shared his life story with MacMullan was NBA All-Star Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks, a shy Jamaican who had immigrated to the Boston area as a super-tall 11-year-old. Her April 1993 Globe story on Ewing explained why he always seemed so sullen when he returned to his hometown: You don`t smile when people scream obscenities at you, or draw pictures of apes hanging from trees with your name spelled out underneath. Why should he be friendly to these people? They threw bricks through the window of his school bus, spraying glass into the eyes of his teammates. They called him a freak. They called him a nigger. The story gave a new dimension to an athlete who, she wrote, had been looked upon as a "surly, angry, nasty player with boundless talent but no mercy." When the piece brought MacMullan an award for feature writing from the Associated Press Sports Editors--one of a number of national awards she has received--she remembered her journalism professor`s words and thought, Hey, Andy, read this one! Why do athletes talk so openly with MacMullan? There are certain tricks of the trade, she says, like coming prepared with background information from an athlete`s high school coach and hometown buddies. (Thus she learned how a 15-year-old Bruschi corrected a mispronunciation of his name: "No, Coach, that`s Tedy Brew-ski. As in, have another.") And she tries to see things from the athlete`s point of view. "I remember how scared I was the first time I showed up to practice and there were all these older players," she might say. Still, much of her success comes simply from her natural ease and warmth. She loves talking with people, hearing stories and telling stories. Sullivan says she`s "an incredible conversationalist." "She`s just a nice lady," says retired NBA superstar Charles Barkley. He was drawn to MacMullan from the beginning: "I looked at her as being a minority. I got into [professional basketball] in `84, and back then, 99 percent of the reporters I talked to were men. I wanted to make her feel comfortable. I knew what that would feel like, being the only black guy in the room." Over the years, Barkley has talked with MacMullan about the agony of a back injury: "Eating a Big Mac hurts." About the ability of young athletes, including himself, to squander millions. And even about his true height: "OK, so maybe I`m 6 foot 5." MacMullan`s career has continued to evolve since that day in 1993 when Don Skwar told her she could keep her job without having to be on the road all the time. Two years later, she started covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated. While she was there, Larry Bird invited her to collaborate on his 1999 memoir, Bird Watching. After leaving the magazine in 2000, she took two years off to be home with her family before returning to the Globe to take her current job as a sports columnist and executive editor. She also makes regular appearances on television as a correspondent for ESPN, NESN and Boston`s WHDH-TV. From time to time, she`s a panelist on two ESPN sports talk shows, "Cold Pizza" and "Around the Horn." But she thoroughly enjoyed a weeklong stint at UNH as a visiting journalist last year and may try teaching full time in the future. The television work has earned MacMullan a status her niece jokingly describes as "marginally famous." MacMullan downplays the glamorous aspects of her job, though, and she`s careful to keep her family and professional lives separate, going by Jackie Boyle outside of work. "My kids didn`t sign up for this," she says. MacMullan knew early on that she wanted to have a family, and she wanted to be part of that family--not the kind of parent who could never make it to her children`s events. There weren`t many role models for her to emulate at work. "You don`t find too many well-rounded people in the sports department," acknowledges Skwar. "People are extremely dedicated to one aspect of their lives and become consumed with that aspect. She`s able to balance a lot of aspects of her life." The Boyles live in an old white farmhouse with low ceilings and exposed beams. MacMullan is up before her children to get a head start on her work. When she can, she conducts interviews and writes during the day, finishing in time to meet their afternoon bus. Her office is the kitchen table, where two portable phones sit next to her laptop, and school projects hang on the refrigerator. Since she only needs to travel when a Boston team makes it into major playoffs or a national series, she can usually attend the events that are important to Alyson, now 15, who plays basketball and field hockey and runs track, and 10-year-old Doug, who has more of a theatrical and musical bent. Still there is no escaping the "on call" aspect of her job. In the middle of a dinner party at a friend`s house last December, she got word that Red Auerbach had died. She sequestered herself in a bedroom for more than an hour in order to write a tribute to the legendary basketball coach and give ESPN a live telephone interview. Through all the night and weekend games, the years of extensive travel, and the need to be on call day and night, husband Michael Boyle has been, in MacMullan`s words, a "very important, quiet background guy." So much in the background, in fact, that when she was pregnant, Charles Barkley used to tease her about her imaginary husband--Sasquatch, he called him. (Last fall, when Barkley was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the two finally met, and Barkley gave the elusive Bigfoot a bear hug.) MacMullan particularly appreciates her husband`s ability to remain unfazed by her semi-celebrity and her interaction with some of the most famous athletes in the country. Which is not to say that he`s immune to the gravitational pull of sports. After Buckner`s error in 1986, he vowed never to root for the Red Sox again. Nevertheless, there he was back on the couch on Oct. 27, 2004, watching the World Series as MacMullan covered it out in St. Louis. The game ends at 11:40 p.m. and the Red Sox have won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. Down in the clubhouse the athletes are dousing each other in champagne, beer and tears of joy. Up on the field the fans are dancing in full Red Sox regalia beneath a moon tinged, yes, red by a lunar eclipse. MacMullan`s fingers are dancing on her laptop. It`s the happiest story in Boston sports history--and she has 18 minutes to write it.   Tony Massarotti – Biographical Brief Tony Massarotti is the co-host of the Felger and Mazz Show on WBZ-FM in afternoon drive time. He is also a columnist for boston.com and has been writing about sports in Boston for the last 20 years. He was voted the Massachusetts Sportswriter of the Year by his peers in 2000 and 2008 and has been a finalist for the award on several other occasions. His blog on boston.com won a 2008 EPpy award for "Best Sports Blog". A lifelong Bostonian, Massarotti graduated from Waltham High School and Tufts University. Tuesday, September 13, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Dan Barry - National Columnist, The New York Times Author of and Speaking on: "Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball`s Longest Game" 12-Noon Luncheon State Street Pavilion at Fenway Park (enter 20 Yawkey Way) $50 Per Person (price includes autographed copy of Mr. Barry`s book) Reservations: fenwayparkwriters@gmail.com Dan Barry - Biographical Brief Dan Barry has been writing the About New York column for The New York Times since June 2003. Mr. Barry joined The Times in September 1995, and has served as the newspaper`s city hall bureau chief, Long Island bureau chief, acting police bureau chief and general assignment reporter for the Metropolitan Desk. Over the years he has written extensively for The Times about city politics, police brutality and life in upstate New York, among other topics, and was a major contributor to the newspaper`s award-winning coverage of the World Trade Center disaster and its aftermath. He also contributed to the coverage of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, on Feb. 11, 1958, Mr. Barry graduated from St. Bonaventure University in 1980 with a bachelor`s degree in journalism. He dug ditches, worked in Long Island delicatessens and earned a master`s degree in journalism from New York University before becoming a reporter for The Journal Inquirer in Manchester, Conn., in 1983. In 1987, he joined the Providence Journal-Bulletin, where he covered the Rhode Island state government and organized crime, and wrote regular essays for the Sunday magazine. From January 1991 to July 1995, he was a member of the newspaper`s five-member investigative team. In 1992, Mr. Barry and two other reporters won a George Polk Award for an investigation into the causes of a state banking crisis. In 1994, he and the other members of the investigative team won a Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles about the state`s court system; the series led to various reforms and the criminal indictment of the state`s Supreme Court chief justice. His other honors include the 2003 American Society of Newspaper Editors Award for deadline reporting, for his coverage of the first anniversary of Sept. 11, and the 2005 Mike Berger Award, from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, which honors in-depth human interest reporting. Mr. Barry has also written a memoir, "Pull Me Up: A Memoir," which was published in May 2004. He lives in Maplewood, N.J., with his wife, Mary Trinity, and their two daughters, Nora and Grace. Thursday, August 11, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: George Vecsey – Sport Columnist of The New York Times Author of and speaking on: “Stan Musial: An American Life” 6:30 pm dinner Esplanade Ballroom - Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square "T" Stop) $55 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Vecsey’s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here.   George Vecsey – Biographical Brief After three years of covering religion for The Times, including two papal conclaves, George Vecsey returned to where he began his journalism career -- writing about sports. In January 1982, following the death of the sports columnist Red Smith, he was named a columnist, joining Dave Anderson in writing "Sports of The Times." Mr. Vecsey had been a sports reporter for Newsday, on Long Island from 1960 to 1968, when he joined The Times. After two years of writing on a variety of sports, he became a national correspondent opening a Times bureau in Louisville, Ky. -- covering everything from coal mining to country music to the Kentucky Derby. That assignment lasted until 1973. He returned to New York to become Long Island correspondent, covering that area until May 1977, when he started to write about religion. On the religion beat he covered papal trips to Mexico and the U.S. In 1978 he covered the conclaves in Rome that elected John Paul I and John Paul II. Mr. Vecsey has written or edited many books -- some on sports. A few examples of his work are: "Joy in Mudville" in 1970, a history of the New York Mets; "One Sunset a Week," the story of a radical coal-mining family in Appalachia, that received good reviews and a few honors, 1974; "Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner`s Daughter" in 1976, a bestseller that was made into a film in 1980 starring Sissy Spacek and, in 1985, "Martina," the autobiography of Martina Navratilova, also a best seller. In 1986, he wrote "A Year in the Sun," how and why he wrote columns in one year. He also wrote a book on the pioneers of aviation and collaborated on another with Bob Welch, the Cy Young Award-winner who is a recovering alcoholic. In 1990, he collaborated with Barbara Mandrell on her autobiography, "Get to the Heart," a New York Times best seller for 19 weeks. In 1990, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University. In 1991, he was voted the New York State Sportswriter of the Year, for the sixth straight year, by the National Association of Sportswriters and Sportscasters. Tuesday, June 21, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Jane Mitchell – Reporter, Channel 4, San Diego Author of and speaking on “One on One – My Journey with Hall of Famers, Fan Favorites and Rising Stars” Special Guests: Adrian Gonzalez of the Boston Red Sox and Dave Roberts of the San Diego Padres 12-Noon Luncheon State Street Pavilion – Fenway Park (enter at 20 Yawkey Way) $50 for Friends of The Writers Series and Season Ticket Holders, all others, $60 (price includes an autographed copy of Ms. Mitchell’s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Adrian Gonzalez Dave Roberts Biographical Brief – Jane Mitchell The 26-time Emmy® Award-winning Jane Mitchell is an accomplished broadcast journalist who is active in her community and supports many charitable causes including ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease.)  Her passion for storytelling stems from her growing up in a Navy family, traveling the world and being encouraged by her mother, who was a teacher, to write about her experiences. In 2010, while still full-time at Channel 4 San Diego, she ventured into an independent project and new dimension of her career by writing and releasing a book One on One – My Journey with Hall of Famers, Fan Favorites and Rising Stars. Even though Jane has won many awards for her television work, she calls both the television show and writing the book about it, a labor of love.  The book is a finalist in the San Diego Book Awards (to be announced in June 2011). Since 1997, Jane has been producing and anchoring One on One with Jane Mitchell, giving viewers an in-depth look at San Diego’s top sports figures from young stars to veterans and Hall of Famers. She was never a big sports fan, but fell in love with baseball at her first spring training in ’97. She brings her newfound appreciation for baseball and football to the show, but more than that, peels back the layers of a player’s often rough and tough game-day façade, to reveal their many layers of struggle, success, triumph and tragedy, humor and humility that make them who they are on and off the field. Their vulnerability and strength are revealed in a way that is both appreciated by the players, and welcomed by new and die-hard fans, alike. The shows, and the book, transcend a uniform. Nearly 100 shows are in the archives with interviews of such favorites and greats including Ken Caminiti, Tim Flannery, Tony Gwynn, Trevor Hoffman, Jerry Coleman, Ted Williams, Jake Peavy, Ryan Klesko, Doug Flutie, LaDainian Tomlinson, Drew Brees, Dave Roberts and Adrian Gonzalez.  Those and more are featured in the book. Jane is busy on many fronts, as a feature reporter for the Padres Honda pre-game show, the Postgame show and co-hosts the in-depth interview program Forefront as well as the annual Holiday Bowl Parade.  She is happy to be working in her hometown.  She is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego with Political Science honors and has a Master of Science in Journalism from the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Chicago.  She began her career in Wichita Falls, Texas and Tulsa, Oklahoma, reporting on everything from teacher strikes to tornadoes.  She returned home as a producer and reporter at KNSD-TV and then joined Cox Communications to produce and report for a special channel for the Republican National Convention in San Diego.  She was then hired to help create Channel 4 San Diego before its launch in 1997.  Jane volunteers at various community events and is Board Chairman of the ALS Association, Greater San Diego Chapter, in honor of her father who died of Lou Gehrig’s Disease.  She enjoys working out, playing the piano and playing tourist and traveler in San Diego and around the world. While she wrote three children’s books in her formative years and has been a broadcast journalist for more than 20 years, this is her first published book. Saturday, May 7, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Talmage Boston – Author of “Baseball and the Baby Boomer” Speaking on: "Baseball and American Life" 10am Coffee and Croissant Reception Hotel Commonwealth - Esplanade Room (2nd floor) 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square "T" stop) $40 Per Person (price includes autographed copy of Mr. Boston’s book) To register for this event please click here. Talmage Boston – Biographical Brief Talmage Boston has lectured on baseball history at: Princeton University the National Baseball Hall of Fame Houston`s Museum of Fine Arts SMU`s Cox School of Business Boston`s essays on baseball have appeared in: the Dallas Morning News Fort Worth Star Telegram the National Baseball Hall of Fame magazine the Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives SABR`s Baseball Research Journal Elysian Fields Quarterly the Dallas Business Journal And on the walls of the Nolan Ryan Center in Alvin, Texas In recognition of his work, the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Boston as a Media Member. In the civic arena, Talmage serves as a director for: the Society For American Baseball Research (Dallas / Fort Worth Chapter) the Bobby Bragan Youth Foundation the SMU Athletic Forum He and his wife, Claire, reside in Dallas, Texas. A shareholder and commercial litigator with the law firm of Winstead PC, Boston has been named a "Super Lawyer" in Texas Monthly magazine every year from 2003 - 2008, and currently serves on the State Bar of Texas board of directors. What People Have Said About Boston’s Books: “MEANWHILE, I read the Baseball and the Boomers book on the plane back to Philadelphia last night. I`ll probably read 1939 this weekend. To be succinct – you are the best baseball writer alive. I haven`t enjoyed a baseball book this much since Peter Golenbock`s "Dynasty." The Mantle-Piersall pairing is brilliant. The Maris chapter is superb. The Robinson chapter provides the best explanation and account of Robinson`s selection (and ordeal) of any I`ve read. Yaz is great-- so is the Brown chapter. Can`t wait to read 1939.” -- DAVID EISENHOWER, in a note to Talmage Boston, after speaking in Dallas on his own book, “Going Home to Glory” "That`s because Boston (author of the 2005 book 1939: Baseball`s Tipping Point) does a superb job of striking a chord with baseball fans of the last several decades by pushing the right buttons..." -- ALLEN BARRA, nationally renowned sportswriter "Talmage Boston, a trial lawyer and baseball historian, is at the top of his game in this terrific tome that has detailed essays and strong opinions..." --HARVEY FROMMER, author of sports books "A booming homer to right field, right where Maris would have put it." -- TOM HOFFARTH, LA Times, farther off the wall (April 17, 2009) "This is an enjoyable book that drips with the loving emotion of a lifetime baseball fan..." -- RICK SHAQ GOLDSTEIN (April 19, 2009) "Boston writes today with the same passion he had for the game when his thoughtful father guided him to Cooperstown while a senior in high school to avoid an embarrassing honeymoon." -- SID DORFMAN, New Jersey Sports ""Opening Boston`s book is a bit like wandering in on a good sports discussion in a bar. After you leave, you feel you`ve not only learned something, but also been honored to be in the company of those telling their tales." -- ROBERT FRANCIS, Fort Worth Business Press "But, it’s a well researched, somewhat uniquely constructed and a very pleasant reading experience - whether you’re a Baby Boomer or not. If you’re a baseball fan, and enjoy reading about it, I recommend that you consider checking out this book." -- STEVE LOMBARDI, WasWatching.com (March 15, 2009) "Different players are heroes to different people. Talmage`s selection of principals about whom he chose to write -- from Jackie Robinson to Bart Giamatti -- reveals what matters to him probably better than any traditional Rorschach test ever would. He seems to be at his most passionate -- and good for him -- in defending the feats of Roger Maris and Nolan Ryan from the ravages of the steroid era. But then it`s natural that we are invariably more impressed with the players of our youth. They seem to us to be bigger in every way then, and surely more indelible." -- FRANK DEFORD, from his Foreword, Six time National Sportswriter of the Year, Commentator, National Public Radio "When I opened Baseball and the Baby Boomer in the first time, my expectations were high for another great baseball history book by Talmage. But more than just history, when I read it, I began to think I was reading a love story -- love of the game, love for its heroes, and love for the values and lessons the game has taught the Baby Boomer generation." --LOU BROCK, from his Preface, Baseball Hall of Famer "Talmage Boston`s new book is a powerful statement of what baseball has meant to America`s fans since World War II -- in the Civil Rights movement, the television era, the challenges to the game`s integrity, and the binding of one generation to the next." --TIM McCARVER, Fox television analyst, Former major league catcher "Baseball has brought great joy to the life of Talmage Boston, and that joy washed over me as I devoured his book. Baseball and the Baby Boomer perfectly evokes the shared memories of our generation, but speaks to all generations of fans who find pleasure and meaning in baseball." -- DAVID MARANISS, Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Author, Clemente: the Passion and Grace of Baseball`s Last Hero "Talmage Boston really loves and cares about baseball, and it shows in every page of his new book. I was especially taken by his chapter on John Grisham." -- TIM KURKJIAN, ESPN baseball analyst, Author, Is This A Great Game, or What? "Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, Talmage Boston brings new life to our Grand Old Game in Baseball and the Baby Boomer" -- DAN SHAUGHNESSY, The Boston Globe sports columnist, Author, Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball "Talmage Boston is a passionate baseball fan and historian. In his book, Baseball and the Baby Boomer, Boston infuses the game of baseball with a strong dose of humanity, integrity, and personal insight. After reading the chapter on my father, I sent Talmage an email saying: "Superb!" -- SHARON ROBINSON, Vice Chairperson, Jackie Robinson Foundation, Author, Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America "Equal parts passionate fan and clear-eyed historian, Talmage Boston is perfectly equipped to guide us through baseball`s rollicking last half-century, as it has changed all the time yet somehow stayed the same." -- ROB NEYER, ESPN.com baseball columnist, Author, Rob Neyer`s Big Book of Baseball Legends Wednesday, April 6, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Harvey Frommer – Author of “Celebrating Fenway Park: An Oral and Narrative History of the Home of Red Sox Nation – 1912-2010” 6:30 PM Dinner & Reception Esplanade Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) $70, Friends of The Writers Series and Season Ticket Holders (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Frommer`s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. About Harvey Frommer Dr. Harvey Frommer received his Ph.D. from New York University. Professor Emeritus, Distinguished Professor nominee, Recipient of the "Salute to Scholars Award" at CUNY where he taught writing for many years, the prolific author was cited by the Congressional Record and the New York State Legislature as a sports historian and journalist. His forty sports books include autobiographies of sports legends Nolan Ryan, Red Holzman and Tony Dorsett, the classics "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," "New York City Baseball: 1947-1957," "The New York Yankee Encyclopedia," "A Yankee Century," "Red Sox vs. Yankees: The Great Rivalry" (with Frederic J. Frommer), and "Five O`clock Lightning: The 1927 Yankees." His "REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM" was published to acclaim in 2008. Together with his wife Myrna Katz Frommer, he has written the acclaimed oral histories "It Happened in the Catskills," "It Happened in Brooklyn," Growing Up Jewish in America," "It Happened on Broadway" and "It Happened in Manhattan." http://harveyfrommersports.com/remembering_fenway. Highlights from Dr. Frommer`s life: Along with his wife Myrna Katz Frommer, he is a professor in the MALS program at Dartmouth College where he teaches oral and cultural history. Dr. Frommer has also taught "Sports Journalism" and "Sports and Culture at Dartmouth College, Adelphi and New York University. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Newsday, USA Today and other publications. Sampling of acclaim for Harvey Frommer: "Dartmouth`s own Mr. Baseball" · Dartmouth Alumni Magazine "Harvey Frommer brings a vast amount of experience in the art of the oral history, one of the many tools at the disposal of the historian. From his Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball to Red Sox-Yankees The Great Rivalry, Frommer shows that he is a baseball writer and historian of repute." · SABR executive director John Zajc "Harvey Frommer is an accomplished writer about many facets of baseball." · George F. Will "First among equals is Harvey Frommer, a great expert on all things baseball and New York (and that city within a city – Brooklyn)." · John Thorn – Baseball Historian What Others Are Saying: “Remembering Fenway Park is an elegant, pennant-winning look-back that should warm the hearts of Red Sox fans young and old. Ted, Yaz, Rico, Roger, Nomar, and Big Papi – they are all there, in the shadow of the Green Monster. What a feeling! “ · Peter Golenbock, -- author of “Red Sox Nation” Friday, January 28, 2011 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Jane Leavy – Author of “The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood” 6:30 pm dinner Commonwealth Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) $60 for Friends of The Writers Series and Season Ticket Holders, all others, $75 (price includes an autographed copy of Ms. Leavy`s book) Event Sponsor: Reservations: fenwayparkwriters@gmail.com Jane Leavy - Biographical Brief Jane Leavy is the author of the New York Times bestseller "Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy" and the comic novel "Squeeze Play", which Entertainment Weekly called “the best novel ever written about baseball.” She was a staff writer at The Washington Post from 1979 to1988, first in the sports section, then writing for the style section. She covered baseball, tennis, and the Olympics for the paper. She wrote features for the style section about sports, politics, and pop culture, including, most memorably, a profile of Mugsy Bogues, the 5’3″ guard for the Washington Wizards, which was longer than he is tall. Before joining the The Washington Post, she was a staff writer at womenSports and Self magazines. She has written for many publications, including The New York Times, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, The Village Voice, and The New York Daily News. Leavy’s work has been anthologized in many collections, including "Best Sportswriting", "Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference", "Child of Mine: Essays on Becoming a Mother", "Nike Is a Goddess: The History of Women in Sports", "Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend: Women Writers on Baseball"," A Kind of Grace: A Treasury of Sportswriting by Women", and" Making Words Dance: Reflections on Red Smith, Journalism and Writing." She grew up on Long Island where she pitched briefly and poorly for the Blue Jays of the Roslyn Long Island Little League. On her parents’ first date, her father, a water boy for the 1927 New York football Giants, took her mother to a Brooklyn College football game. She retaliated by taking him to Loehmann’s after the final whistle. It was a template for their 63-year union. As a child, Jane Leavy worshipped Mickey Mantle from the second-floor ballroom in the Concourse Plaza Hotel where her grandmother’s synagogue held services on the High Holidays. Jane Leavy attended Barnard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where she wrote her master’s essay (later published in The Village Voice) on Red Smith, the late sports columnist for The New York Times, who was her other childhood hero. She has two adult children, Nick and Emma Isakoff, and she lives in Washington, DC, and Truro, Massachusetts. Jane Leavy’s Web site: http://www.janeleavy.com/news-2 New York Times Book Review: Mantle Biography Delves Into Traumas and Myths By Richard Sandomir Jane Leavy, Mickey Mantle’s new biographer, admits her bias: she loved him as she grew up in Roslyn, N.Y., on Long Island, and always took his side when she debated her father over who was better: Mantle or Willie Mays. “Facts, statistics, nothing mattered,” she said. “Mickey was my guy.” Her grandmother lived two blocks from Yankee Stadium and near the Concourse Plaza Hotel, where Mantle and his wife, Merlyn, lived early in their marriage. Although her grandmother never set foot in the stadium, “in my memory she loomed large in it,” Leavy said. For her, the stadium and her grandmother’s Apartment 2A at 751 Walton Avenue were personal Edens. “My intense love for Mickey,” she said, “was suffused with my intense love for my grandmother.” But something else bound her to Mantle: her premature birth and Mantle’s injuries. “I felt that he carried a sense that he was damaged and so did I,” she said. Her new book, “The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood” (Harper), is an episodic tour of Mantle’s athletic achievements and his physical and emotional traumas. Harper is publishing the book with a large first printing of 200,000 copies. In her investigation of Mantle’s titanic home run out of Griffith Stadium in Washington, in 1953, she located the elderly man who, as a youngster, found the ball after rushing from his bleacher seat; at the same time, she debunks the myth that the home run traveled 565 feet. Her research into Mantle’s injury history rejects his claim that his right knee was operated on after he fell over a drain cover at Yankee Stadium while stopping to let Joe DiMaggio catch a fly ball in the 1951 World Series. When Mantle had surgery two years later, there was no established procedure to fix a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which she believes Mantle played on for the rest of his career. The orthopedic surgeon who analyzed the case history that Leavy compiled said it was likely that Mantle compensated for the torn A.C.L. with what the orthopedist called “neuromuscular genius.” And through more than 500 interviews over five years, she delves further than other biographers have into Mantle’s alcoholism; the sexual abuse he suffered as a child and the sexual relationship with a teacher when he was a teenager; his philandering; the extent of his osteomyelitis; and the history of cancer in his family. She also explores his sense that he would not live a full life, which she traces partly to his growing up in Oklahoma’s lead-and-zinc-mining country, where hard-rock miners like his father, Mutt, died of cancer or perished in cave-ins and explosions. “It was a metastatic landscape,” she said, one that is now a federal Superfund cleanup site. “You know the word ‘undermine’? It means they’ve taken all the stuff out from the crust of the earth and there’s nothing there anymore. Mickey’s hometown is undermined.” Unlike Leavy’s previous biographical subject, Sandy Koufax, Mantle has been the subject of numerous books, several that he collaborated on, and one searing memoir by his wife and sons. Koufax was also devoid of the demons, regrets and unfulfilled promise that characterized Mantle. And while Koufax’s career ended at age 30 because of arthritis in his arm, he finished with a 27-victory season and a 1.73 earned run average. Mantle retired at 37, years after his productivity had peaked. “I knew from the get-go that I wasn’t going to discover that he’d really been born in Alaska and raised a Mormon,” she said. “I knew there wasn’t an uncharted narrative arc where I’d say, ‘Oh my God, he’s really Lebanese!’ ” She created a structure of 20 chapters — turning points in his life and baseball career — that let her focus on critical days while fleshing out the details of his life. She wanted to understand why men in their 50s and beyond still revere Mantle, but she did not want to recount every home run or every significant game. A few years into the project, she said, “I had a ta-da moment: Mickey is the ultimate boomer entitlement.” As in her Koufax book, which alternates between biographical chapters and an inning-by-inning account of his perfect game in 1965, Leavy uses a device to help tell Mantle’s story. She detours from the narrative several times to recount her 1983 encounter with Mantle at the Claridge Hotel in Atlantic City (where her parents had honeymooned in 1941) when she was a reporter for The Washington Post. Mantle was in a part-time job at the hotel-casino as its director of sports promotions; it helped pay for his son Billy’s cancer treatments, but the gambling connection got him exiled from baseball. The work required him to be nice, sign autographs and play golf with high-rollers. But the easy access to liquor was no favor to an alcoholic. Mantle greeted Leavy almost immediately with a crude anatomical reference (“That was the end of the world as I knew it,” she said), and at 2 the next morning in the casino bar, his hand moved up her knee. Although she later learned that he acted provocatively and spoke vulgarly to keep people off balance, it was a rude introduction to the player she once adored. “I’m going, ‘Oh my God,’ ” she said. “He’d had one too many, but I was saved by whatever he was drinking; he started to say something and over he went into my lap.” He had passed out, she said. “I’m trapped beneath 200 pounds of American idol when American idol meant something else.” She added: “Many illusions were shattered, but he forced me to grow up. That’s not so bad. I was 32.” The 2,700-word article she filed did not — and could not — fully reflect her time with Mantle and only hinted at his excesses and his melancholy. But as she retrieved her old notes, she recalled being stunned at seeing that he told her that he had cirrhosis but had continued to drink. “I asked Merlyn if it was true and she said, ‘Yes,’ ” Leavy said, referring to an interview with Mantle’s widow, who has since died. “I questioned what I did,” she said. “Should I have found a way to write it even if he told it to me off the record? Should I have called his wife?” She added, “I felt a certain sense of guilt that I’d let him down.” October 12, 2010 Tuesday, November 9, and Thursday, November 11, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Peter Gammons – The Legendary Baseball Savant Editor of and Speaking On: “The Best American Sports Writing” 6:30 pm Dinner Hotel Commonwealth – Esplanade Room 500 Commonwealth Avenue $55, Friends of The Writers Series and Season Ticket Holders, all others, $65 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Gammons` book) To register for this event please click here. Peter Gammons – Biographical Brief Peter Gammons, born April 9, 1945, is an American sportswriter, media personality, and a recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA). Gammons went to Groton School, an elite prep school in his hometown, Groton, MA. After graduating from Groton in 1965, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he was a member of the Xi Chapter of St. Anthony Hall, also known as the Fraternity of Delta Psi. He worked for the university`s student-run newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel. After graduating in 1969, he began his journalism career at The Boston Globe. Gammons was a featured writer at The Boston Globe for many years as the main journalist covering the Boston Red Sox. (1969–1975, 1978–1986), or as a national baseball columnist. Between his two stints as a baseball columnist with the Globe, he was lead baseball columnist for Sports Illustrated (1976–78, 1986–90), where he covered baseball, hockey, and college basketball. Gammons also wrote a column for The Sporting News in the 1980s as well. Gammons has also authored numerous baseball books, including Beyond the Sixth Game. In 1988, he joined ESPN, where he served primarily as an in-studio analyst.[1] During the baseball season, he appeared nightly on Baseball Tonight and had regular spots on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio. He wrote an Insider column for ESPN.com and also wrote for ESPN The Magazine. The Globe reprinted some of his ESPN columns well into the 1990s. In 2006, Gammons was named as one of two field-level reporters for ESPN`s Sunday Night Baseball, joining Bonnie Bernstein. He held that position through the 2008 season, when he moved exclusively to baseball. After 20 years with ESPN, on December 8, 2009, Gammons announced that he would leave ESPN to pursue "new challenges" and a "less demanding schedule".[3] Gammons joined the MLB Network and MLB.com as on-air and online analyst. He works for NESN. He was voted the National Sportswriter of the Year in 1989, 1990 and 1993 by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He has also been awarded an honorary Poynter Fellow from Yale University[5]. In 2004, Gammons was selected as the 56th recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the BBWAA, and was honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 31, 2005.[1] January 9, 2009 was proclaimed Peter Gammons day in the City of Boston. The proclamation was made by Michael Ross, president of the Boston City Council at the Hot Stove Cool Music Sports Roundtable at Fenway Park. 2010 marked the 10th anniversary of Hot Stove Cool Music, a charitable concert benefiting the Foundation To Be Named Later. At this event, Theo Epstein, Vice President and General Manager of the Boston Red Sox, announced a new scholarship in Gammons` name. The "Peter Gammons - Foundation To Be Named Later Scholarship presented by RISO" enables select Boston Public Schools students to attend college who otherwise might not have the chance Gammons was born in Boston and raised in Groton, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Groton School. He lives in Boston and Cape Cod with his wife Gloria. On June 27, 2006, Gammons was stricken with the rupture of a brain aneurysm in the morning near his home on Cape Cod, Mass.[1] and was initially taken to Falmouth Hospital before being airlifted to Brigham and Women`s Hospital in Boston to undergo surgery. Sportswriter Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe reported that Gammons was expected to be in intensive care for 10 to 12 days. He was resting in intensive care following the operation, and doctors listed him in "good" condition the following dayOn July 17, he was released from the hospital and entered the Rehabilitation Hospital of the Cape and Islands.[7] On August 19, Gammons made his first public appearance since the aneurysm rupture at Fenway Park when the Red Sox played the Yankees. Peter returned to ESPN on Wednesday, September 20, 2006. He reported from Fenway Park on the 6 P.M. edition of SportsCenter and the 7 P.M. edition of Baseball Tonight.Gammons resumed his regular reporting coverage during the 2007 baseball season. Gammons has a penchant for indie rock and the blues, and is active in the Boston indie rock scene when his other commitments allow him the time; he has been sighted at several Midnight Oil shows, and has mentioned the band in several columns. He is also a fan of Pearl Jam, as he has talked about experiences at concerts as well as previous albums (as heard on various ESPN Radio shows.) With the assistance of a band of Boston musicians and Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein, Gammons plays a Fender Stratocaster and sings at the annual Hot Stove, Cool Music concert event to benefit Theo and Paul Epstein`s Foundation To Be Named Later, a charity that raises funds and awareness for non-profit agencies serving disadvantaged youth in the Greater Boston area. Gammons` debut album, Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old, was released on July 4, 2006. Gammons sang and played guitar on this collection of originals and covers that includes The Clash`s Death or Glory and Warren Zevon`s Model Citizen. Proceeds again went to Epstein`s charity. The Boston Baseball Band wrote a song about Gammons called "Jammin` With Peter Gammons." Gammons founded the Hot Stove Cool Music benefit concert series with sportswriter Jeff Horrigan, Casey Riddles, Debbi Wrobleski, Mindy d`Arbeloff and singer Kay Hanley in December 2000. The fundraiser now takes place twice each year, with one show in January and another in July or August. Gammons is tightly connected to the Boston rock scene. He even served as minister at the November 2007 marriage of bassist Ed Valauskas (Gravel Pit, the Gentlemen) and singer Jennifer D`Angora (Downbeat 5, the Dents, Jenny Dee and the Deelinquents). Biographical material from Wikipedia Friday, October 15, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Todd Gitlin – The Legendary Writer & Thinker Author of and Speaking On: “The Chosen Peoples: America, Israel, and The Ordeals of Divine Election” 12-Noon Luncheon Hotel Commonwealth – Esplanade Room 500 Commonwealth Avenue $50 Per Person – Autographed copy of Mr. Gitlin’s book included) To register for this event please click here.   Todd Gitlin – Biographical Brief Todd Gitlin is the author of twelve books, including, most recently, The Bulldozer and the Big Tent: Blind Republicans, Lame Democrats, and the Recovery of American Ideals; other titles include The Intellectuals and the Flag; Letters to a Young Activist; Media Unlimited: How the Torrent of Images and Sounds Overwhelms Our Lives; The Twilight of Common Dreams: Why America Is Wracked by Culture Wars; The Sixties: Years of Hope, Days of Rage; Inside Prime Time; The Whole World Is Watching; Uptown: Poor Whites in Chicago (co-author); two novels, Sacrifice and The Murder of Albert Einstein; and a book of poetry, Busy Being Born. These books have been translated into Japanese, Korean, Chinese, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. He also edited Watching Television and Campfires of the Resistance. He has contributed to many books and published widely in general periodicals (The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, Boston Globe, Dissent, The New Republic, The Nation, Wilson Quarterly, Harper’s, American Journalism Review, Columbia Journalism Review, The American Prospect, et al.), online magazines (tnr.com, prospect.org, openDemocracy.net), and scholarly journals (Theory and Society, Journal of Communication, Critical Studies in Mass Communication, et al.). He is on the editorial boards of Dissent and the Progressive Book Club, and a contributing writer to Mother Jones. He is a regular contributor to the blog TPMcafe.com and the “Entanglements” and “The Book” blogs at The New Republic online. He has been a columnist at the New York Observer and the San Francisco Examiner. During the 2008 campaign he is wrote a weekly “Sunday Watch” column for Columbia Journalism Review online and the Huffington Post. His poems have appeared in The New York Review of Books, Yale Review, and The New Republic. In 2000, Sacrifice won the Harold U. Ribalow Prize for books on Jewish themes. The Sixties and The Twilight of Common Dreams were Notable Books in the New York Times Book Review. Inside Prime Time received the nonfiction award of the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association; The Sixties was a finalist for that award and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. He holds degrees from Harvard University (mathematics), the University of Michigan (political science), and the University of California, Berkeley (sociology). He was the third president of Students for a Democratic Society, in 1963-64, and coordinator of the SDS Peace Research and Education Project in 1964-65, during which time he helped organize the first national demonstration against the Vietnam War and the first American demonstrations against corporate aid to the apartheid regime in South Africa. During 1968-69, he was an editor and writer for the San Francisco Express Times, and through 1970 wrote widely for the underground press. In 2003-06, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Greenpeace USA. He is now a professor of journalism and sociology and chair of the Ph. D. program in Communications at Columbia University. Earlier, he was for sixteen years a professor of sociology and director of the mass communications program at the University of California, Berkeley, and then for seven years a professor of culture, journalism and sociology at New York University. During 1994-95, he held the chair in American Civilization at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris. He has been a resident at the Bellagio Study Center in Italy and the Djerassi Foundation in Woodside, California, a fellow at the Media Studies Center in New York, and a visiting professor at Yale University, the University of Oslo, the University of Toronto, East China Normal University in Shanghai, and the Institut Supérieur des Langues de Tunis in Tunisia. He lectures frequently on culture and politics in the United States and abroad (Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Russia, Greece, Turkey, India, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Canada, Mexico, Morocco). He has appeared on many National Public Radio programs including Fresh Air as well as PBS, ABC, CBS and CNN. He lives in New York City with his wife, Laurel Cook. What People Are Saying about “America, Israel, and The Ordeals of Divine Election” “This is one of the finest books I have ever read about the ideas which drive modern nations. Eloquent and erudite, Gitlin and Leibovitz reveal the promise and the pitfalls of a mass temptation neither Americans nor Israelis have been able to resist. The Chosen Peoples is a necessary work for our perilous era.” –Michael Kazin, author of A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan “Americans’ deep sense of connection to Old Testament prophecy and providence dates back to the Puritans. In their provocative new book, Todd Gitlin and Liel Leibovitz explore that connection anew for modern times—and offer food for thought and rich argument about the historical as well as political experiences of both Israel and the United States.” –Sean Wilentz, author of The Rise of American Democracy “A perceptive comparison between Israel and the United States as Chosen Peoples of God. The authors synthesize history, Bible study, and current events with their own deeply moral analysis. They explore the analogy between the Israeli settlers on Palestinian lands and the white American settlers on Native American lands in ways profoundly enlightening.” –Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 “The Chosen Peoples invites readers to take with great seriousness and respect the idea that both Israel and the United States bear the burden of imagining themselves as chosen by God. In an extraordinarily sensitive exploration of the concept of being chosen, Todd Gitlin and Liel Leibovitz bring a fresh perspective to the history of Israel and America and to the complex linkages between them.” –Joyce Appleby, professor emerita of history, UCLA, author of The Relentless Revolution: A History of Capitalism “Few alliances on the world stage are as complex and important as the Israeli-United States special relationship. Yet how best to understand it? In a book that is as refreshing as it is provocative, and timely too, The Chosen Peoples explores the fascinating consequences of both nations seeing themselves as chosen by God. Bravo to Todd Gitlin and Liel Leibovitz for their important contribution.” –Jay Winik, author of April 1865 and The Great Upheaval “The Chosen Peoples is a probing account of two powerful myths that have brought us to the brink of disaster, but that may still provide a fresh way forward. The authors’ case for more humane ideas of national destiny is lucid, compelling, and deeply necessary. No one who cares about the future of America–or Israel–can afford to ignore this timely and important book.” –Jackson Lears, Rutgers University, author of Rebirth of a Nation: The Making of Modern America, 1877-1920 Friday, July 30, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Jason Turbow – Author of "The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime: 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue, next to Game On $50 Per Person (price includes autographed copy of Mr. Turbow’s book) To register for this event please click here. Jason Turbow – Biographical Brief Jason Turbow has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, SportsIllustrated.com, and Slam magazine. He is a regular contributor to Giants Magazine and Athletics, and for three years served as content director for “Giants Today,” a full-page supplement in the San Francisco Chronicle that was published in conjunction with every Giants home game. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and two children. Honor Among Base Stealers – The New York Times Book Review Illustration by Rodrigo Corral and Sabine Dowek By BRUCE WEBER Published: March 25, 2010 Professional baseball is a society, of sorts, and “The Baseball Codes” is a book of casual sociology. The premise is that ballplayers, managers, coaches and various other participants in the culture of baseball are all clued in to a value system, a mode of behavior that defines a gauzy ideal: the right way to play the game. THE BASEBALL CODES Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime That phrase in itself needs explaining. If you’re not fluent in sportspeak, you might think the right way to play would involve skills — techniques for a hitter’s taking the outside pitch to the opposite field, say. Or maybe it would involve rules. But no. As the savvy fan knows, the right way to play refers to being a proper baseball citizen — that is, showing respect for your opponents, your teammates and the game itself, whether or not you hit .300 or your team makes it to the World Series. Jason Turbow and Michael Duca, obvious baseball obsessives from the San Francisco Bay Area, have collected dozens of stories from baseball history about situations that are not governed by the rule book but that pertain to the fuzzy notions of rightness and respect and that describe the contours of the so-called baseball codes. When is it legitimate for a pitcher to knock down a hitter? When is it unsportsmanlike for a base runner to steal a base? Spitballs may not be legal, but are they ethical? Why might a player lie to his manager? Is it ever O.K. not to join your teammates when a brawl starts on the field? And how about stealing your opponent’s signs? Is it proper? Always? Are some methods of thievery more tolerable than others? For true baseball-niks, the discussions of these issues won’t be especially enlightening. With so many former athletes now in the broadcast booth, the unwritten rules of the game get a pretty regular airing. (Disappointingly for a book that devotes a substantial section to cheating, there is no discussion at all of steroid use.) But the stories the authors have unearthed to illustrate ballpark justice and morality are often delicious. It won’t be news, for example, that when your team is ahead by seven runs in the eighth inning, it’s bad form to swing at a 3-0 pitch. (For the unimmersed: The pitcher will most likely throw the ball right down the middle in order to get a strike, and taking advantage of this when your team is way ahead is considered rubbing it in.) To do so is to invite retribution; sometime soon — that inning, the next inning, tomorrow’s game — the opposing team’s pitcher will be aiming a fastball at you or a teammate. But it is entertaining to learn that in 2006, Torii Hunter, the splendid outfielder then with the Minnesota Twins (he now plays for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), made just that mistake against the Boston Red Sox. And that after the game, to palliate the feelings of their opponents and prevent an act of revenge, the Twins’ manager, Ron Gardenhire, brought Hunter to the Red Sox clubhouse, like a parent teaching a 6-year-old a lesson, to apologize to the team’s manager, Terry Francona. Gardenhire is quoted as having said that he wanted Francona “to know we didn’t give a sign for him to swing away, that Torii just made a mistake.” He added, “I thought that it was good for Torii to explain it to him, so I took him over.” The authors offer stories like this in a spirit of romanticism, as though matters of violating and adhering to the codes of the game were enmeshed in its glorious tradition. But readers who are lesser fans may have limited tolerance for such minor episodes of baseball life, especially since what is collectively revealed is how thin-skinned, pouty, childish, vulgar and vengeful the baseball codes condition participants to be. The main dictum seems to be that even though you’re trying to beat your opponents’ brains in, you have to do it in a mannerly fashion, and if you don’t, you’re dead meat. How players follow this principle takes some interesting forms, and in many ­places “The Baseball Codes” reads like a lab report by a psychologist who has been observing hostile toddlers whack one another with plastic shovels in a sandbox. Nolan Ryan was so put off if a batter dared to bunt and make him field his position, the authors write, that he’d knock him down with his 100-mile-per-hour fastball. If a hitter smacks a home run and stands a little too long in the batter’s box admiring his feat, the pitcher — it doesn’t matter who — may be so ticked off that he’ll take the next opportunity to drill the guy. Ditto if a hitter tries to sneak a peek at the catcher’s signs. If one of your teammates is hit with a pitch, it’s incumbent on you, as a pitcher, to retaliate and nail one of their guys. Bob Gibson settled a grudge against one player 15 years after the fact, hitting him with a pitch in an old-timers’ game. In 1976, Frank Robinson, then a player-manager with the Cleveland Indians, sent a pitcher, Bob Reynolds, to the Toledo Mud Hens, a minor-league affiliate, and when the Indians played the Mud Hens in an exhibition game, Reynolds, still miffed, threw a pitch over Robinson’s head. “Robinson’s response wasn’t standard fare for most management types,” the authors write. “After grounding out, he walked to the mound and punched Reynolds twice, felling him with the second blow.” No punishment for Robinson was forthcoming. The general manager of the Indians shrugged off the event. “Things like this happen in baseball from time to time,” he said. Bruce Weber, a reporter at The Times, is the author of “As They See ’Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires,” which has just been published in paperback. Wednesday, June 23, 2010 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series &The Denver Forum Proudly Present: Christine Brennan – USA Today Columnist and ABC-Sports/ESPN Commentator Author of and Speaking on: "Best Seat in the House" 12-Noon Luncheon Oxford Hotel - Denver 1600 17th Street Sage Room Members of The Forum & Friends of The Writers Series: $30, Non-Members, $45 Reservations: fenwayparkwriters@gmail.com Event Sponsor: Christine Brennan - Biographical Brief Journalist Christine Brennan - USA Today sports columnist and ABC/ESPN television sports analyst - is a leading voice on the Olympics, international sports, women’s sports and other sports issues. Brennan, a staff writer at The Washington Post from 1984-96, was an on-air commentator for ABC News and ESPN television during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, breaking the news of the pairs figure skating scandal at the Games. She also worked for ABC News during the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Brennan has appeared on a variety of network and cable shows over the past decade, including ESPN`s SportsCenter, Nightline, Good Morning America, World News Tonight and NBC`s Today show. A commentator on National Public Radio`s Morning Edition, Brennan appears regularly on ESPN Radio and WMAL Radio in Washington, D.C. Her sports commentaries appear on-line at usatoday.com. Brennan, who joined USA Today as a columnist in 1997, became the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins in 1985 as a staff writer at The Washington Post. At the Post, she covered the Olympics and international sports, reporting from many nations, including Cuba and the former Soviet Union. Brennan has covered every Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Prior to joining the Post, Brennan was the first woman sports writer at The Miami Herald, where she worked from 1981-84. The author of four books, Brennan has won the Women`s Sports Foundation`s journalism award four times, and her work has been featured in various sports anthologies. Her 1998 book "Edge of Glory" won an Ohioana Library Association book award. In 1993, she was named the Capital Press Women`s "Woman of Achievement." She recently was named one of the top 10 sports columnists in the category of the nation`s largest newspapers by the Associated Press Sports Editors for 2001. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Brennan was inducted into the Ohio Women`s Hall of Fame in 1995. She graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1976. In 1988, Brennan was elected the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. As president of the nationwide organization, she initiated a scholarship-internship program for college-age women that now honors six students annually. Brennan received undergraduate and master`s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University in 1980 and 1981, respectively. She lives in Washington, D.C. Friday, June 11, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: John McDermott – The World’s Greatest Irish Tenor In Concert – With Song and Commentary 12-Noon Luncheon Esplanade Room of the Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue $50, Friends of The Writers Series and Season Ticket Holders, all others, $75 Price Includes “Legacy of the Patriot” CD by Mr. McDermott Reservations: fenwayparkwriters@gmail.com   Biographical Brief – John McDermott “Legend” is not a title John McDermott would readily embrace, but his accomplishments have become legendary in recording industry lore. He calls Toronto and Boston home, but he has also found a home as an international recording star and household name – known as much for his successful musical career as for his commitment to veterans’ causes. He is a long way from the man for whom singing was a hobby less than ten years ago. John was discovered quite by chance, when working as a circulation sales representative for the Toronto Sun, he belted out an impromptu rendition of “Danny Boy” at a company party. “I grew up singing, but I thought everybody grew up singing. My dad and mom introduced us to music early on, and all of the McDermott kids could unleash a verse or two of ‘Scotland the Brave’ or ‘Green Isle of Erin’ on command. My song was ‘Danny Boy,’ and I sang it with pride, because even as a kid I knew what a powerful and emotive song it was.” John’s first album, Danny Boy, was originally recorded as a very private and personal 50th anniversary tribute for his parents. Its quality could not be ignored and it eventually found its way into the hands of EMI Music Canada. Danny Boy subsequently garnered strong sales for a debut release in the U.S. and Canada; it even reached number one on New Zealand’s album charts, and was certified double platinum in that country. This success, in addition to a fast growing North American fan base, won through a tireless touring schedule, led to his participation in the PBS phenomenon, The Irish Tenors. John’s presence helped generate a US gold record, three US tours, and a high-profile media schedule, which included appearances on ‘Good Morning America’ and ‘The Today Show.’ The outcome of that fateful performance has catapulted him into a musical career that includes three Canadian platinum records, five Juno nominations (Canada’s equivalent of the Grammy), and a solid international touring schedule. In November 2001, John taped “John McDermott – A Time to Remember” at the Living Arts Centre outside Toronto. This, his first solo television special, began airing in March 2002 on PBS affiliates across North America. Always a generous performer and mentor to emerging artists, John shared the stage and screen with a huge cast, including explosive music and dance troupe, Chanda Gibson and Pulse, and Cape Breton Celtic prodigies, The Cottars.   His success has allowed him to express his commitment to veteran’s causes, which have always been integral to John and an important theme in his music. He is a recipient of one the United State’s highest honours – the Congressional Medal of Honor Society’s “Bob Hope Award.” John’s early 2003 release, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, as the title suggests, is a tribute to his faith that had been a work-in-progress since 1970, yielding 17 beautiful songs that range in recording from 1565 through to 2003. Late 2003 album, Stories of Love, showcased his interpretation of the classic Frank Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim bossa nova canon of songs. It included such favourites as “Girl from Ipanema” and “(In The) Wee Small Hours (Of The Morning).” “I have always wanted to do this material in a manner that would present the beauty of the lyric and melody, here it is,” says John In 2004 John released two compilations of his favourite traditional songs from Ireland and Scotland. Songs of the Isles Ireland and Songs of the Isles Scotland were both released on John’s own Bunnygee label. In March 2005, John recorded Just Plain Folk live at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto. Just Plain Folk is dedicated to the folk music genre and collects songs from that evening’s performance, along with songs John has recorded over the past few years with fellow guest artists but have not been released until now. Legendary folk artist Michael Smith performs with John on the release. Smith’s resume includes over 30 artists from Suzy Bogguss to Jimmy Buffet that have cut or performed his tunes and it became safe to assume that, “if Michael Smith has written a song, someone else has played or recorded it.” Later that year, John released Images of Christmas with John McDermott and Friends. This holiday themed album featured John performing duets with artists such as Ron Sexsmith, Colette Baron-Reid, Murry McLauchlan, Marc Jordon, and Jason Fowler among others, as well as songs performed by Cindy Church, Lawrence Gowan, Shaye, Amy Sky, Glass Tiger and Tom Cochrane. John has continued to keep busy, re-teaming with The Irish Tenors for a well-received tour and the 2005 album, Sacred, on Razor & Tie Records. In 2006 he released a Greatest Hits package, Timeless Memories, on EMI and, Legacy of the Patriot, on his own Bunnygee imprint. In early 2007 he released, On a Whim, featuring the songs of Ron Sexsmith. The result is a beautiful collaboration, co-produced by the artists, that melds John’s signature vocals with Ron Sexsmith’s critically acclaimed songwriting style. Last fall John toured to support his new Christmas CD and DVD John McDermott & Friends Sharing Christmas. The DVD was broadcast as a special on Dec 18th, 2007 on CBC TV. The tour ran for most of December and featured special guests at several of the shows. This year John marks the 2008 season with special guest, Australian Folk superstar Eric Bogle. John McDermott is an artist whose sense of respect for tradition and understanding of the sentiment behind the music resonates worldwide. Friday, May 7, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Richard Ben-Veniste – Distinguished Public Servant & Member of the 9/11 Commission Author of and Speaking on: “The Emperor’s New Clothes: Exposing the Truth from Watergate to 9/11" 12-Noon Luncheon Commonwealth Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue $50 Per Person (price includes autographed copy of Mr. Ben-Veniste’s book) To register for this event please click here. Biographical Brief – Richard Ben-Veniste Richard Ben-Veniste is a highly respected litigator who focuses on civil matters and white collar criminal cases. He also advises organizations and individuals involved in congressional investigations across a broad range of complex and sensitive areas. Richard first achieved national prominence during the mid-1970s, when he served as one of the lead prosecutors on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force. Recognized as both a knowledgeable and experienced counselor and as a skilled and accomplished trial lawyer, he has been a key figure in some of the nation’s most significant governmental activities at the intersection of law and politics. From 1995 to 1996, for example, he acted as Chief Counsel (Minority) of the Senate Whitewater Committee; from 1976 to 1977, he was Special Outside Counsel for the Senate Subcommittee on Governmental Operations; and from 1973 to 1975, he held the position of Chief of the Watergate Special Prosecutor’s Watergate Task Force. Most recently, Richard served as one of ten commissioners on the bipartisan 9-11 Commission. Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 2002, Richard was a partner at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Ben-Veniste and Shernoff. From 1968 to 1973 he served as Assistant US Attorney for the Southern District of New York where he was Chief of the Special Prosecutions Section. Mr. Ben-Veniste has been listed in Who’s Who in America since 1975, The Best Lawyers in America since 1983, and Washingtonian Magazine’s Top Lawyers in Washington, DC since 1992, when the list first appeared. Education Columbia University Law School, JD, 1967; Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar • Northwestern University, LLM, 1968 • Muhlenberg College, AB, magna cum laude, 1964; Awarded honorary LLD by Muhlenberg College, 1975. Friday, April 16, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Mr. Curt Smith – Presidential Speech Writer & Author of Sports Books Extraordinaire Author of and Speaking on: “Voices of the Game” 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Friends of the Writers Series – $50 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Smith’s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Biographical Brief – Curt Smith Curt Smith is an acclaimed author, radio/television host, columnist, and former presidential speechwriter. Says NBC broadcaster Bob Costas: "Curt Smith stands up for the beauty of words." Adds former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, "I have admired his marvelously professional work." Smith hosts the weekly syndicated "Perspectives" from Rochester, New York`s National Public Radio affiliate WXXI AM. The series, distributed to other NPR stations in New York State, features well-known local and national guests. Among Smith`s past guests are: Fred Barnes, Christine Brennan, George H. W. Bush, Tucker Carlson, Dick Enberg, Emeril Lagasse, Michelle Malkin, George Mitchell, Dan Rather, George Will, and John Zogby. Smith also hosts the twice-weekly "Talking Point" on Rochester CBS-TV affiliate WROC, discussing issues from politics to education. He is a popular columnist for Upstate New York`s Messenger-Post Newspapers and Senior Lecturer of English at the University of Rochester, where he teaches Public Speaking and Presidential Rhetoric. Smith is the author of ten books: What Baseball Means to Me, Voices of The Game, Storied Stadiums, Windows on the White House, Our House, Of Mikes and Men, Long Time Gone, A Fine Sense of the Ridiculous, America`s Dizzy Dean, and The Storytellers. He has written and coproduced prime-time ESPN-TV documentaries based on Voices of The Game - and helped write and research the ABC/ESPN "SportsCentury" documentary series. Smith was a Gannett Company reporter, speechwriter to former Texas Governor John Connally, and The Saturday Evening Post senior editor before joining the Bush White House in 1989. He wrote more speeches than anyone for former president George Bush. Among them were the "Just War" Persian Gulf address; Nixon and Reagan Library dedication speeches; and address aboard the USS Missouri on the 50th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Leaving the White House in 1993, he hosted a smash series at the Smithsonian Institute, based on Voices, before turning to radio and TV. From 1994-96 Smith hosted the popular "Midday Milwaukee" talk show on ABC radio affiliate WISN. In 1998, his radio commentary was voted "Best in New York State" by Associated Press and the New York State Broadcasters Association. He also hosted WROC-TV`s 2000-2002 program "Perfectly Clear" and co-hosted a 1997-2002 series on the Fox Empire Sports Network. Smith has appeared on numerous local and network radio/TV programs. They include ABC`s "Nightline"; "CBS This Morning"; CNN, CNBC, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC-TV; ESPN-TV`s "SportsCenter" and "Up Close with Roy Firestone"; Armed Forces Radio, and the British Broadcasting Corporation. He has also written for publications including Newsweek, The New York Times, Reader`s Digest, Sports Illustrated, and The Washington Post. Raised in Caledonia, New York, the 1973 SUNY at Geneseo graduate has been named among the "100 Outstanding Alumni" of New York`s State University System, is a member of the Judson Welliver Society of former White House Speechwriters, and lives with his wife Sarah and two children in Rochester. Sunday, April 4, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present Opening Day With: Mika Brzezinski – Journalist and Co-Host of MSNBC`s Morning Joe Author of and speaking on: “All Things at Once” 5:00 PM Reception and Early Dinner Commonwealth Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) Friends of the Writers Series & Red Sox Season Ticket Holders – $50 (price includes an autographed copy of Ms. Brzezinski`s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Biographical Brief – Mika Brzezinski Mika Brzezinski was born in New York City, the daughter of Zbigniew Brzezinski and sculptor Emilie Anna Benešová. Her father was a professor at Columbia University before being named National Security Advisor to President Jimmy Carter. Ms. Brzezinski attended The Madeira School during her high-school years. She graduated in 1989 from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, where she majored in English, after transferring from Georgetown University as a junior. Since 1993, Ms. Brzezinski has been married to TV news reporter James Hoffer. They have two children . Ms. Brzezinski began her journalism career as an assistant at ABC`s World News This Morning in 1990. A year later, she moved to FOX affiliate WTIC-TV/WTIC-DT in Hartford, Connecticut. There, she progressed from assignment and features editor to general assignments reporter. In 1992, she joined CBS affiliate WFSB-TV/WFSB-DT in Hartford and quickly rose through the ranks to become its weekday morning anchor in 1995. In 1997, she left that role to join the CBS network news, where she served as a correspondent and as anchor for the overnight Up to the Minute news program. In 2000, Ms. Brzezinski began a short hiatus from CBS, during which she worked for rival MSNBC on the weekday afternoon show, Home Page, with co-anchors Gina Gaston and Ashleigh Banfield. She returned to CBS as a correspondent in September 2001, which thrust her into the limelight as a principal "Ground Zero" reporter for the September 11, 2001 attacks. Ms. Brzezinski was broadcasting live from the scene when the South Tower collapsed. In her last position at CBS, she served as a CBS News correspondent, substitute anchor, and segment anchor for breaking news segments and routine updates. During this period she was a frequent contributor to CBS Sunday Morning and "60 Minutes." Ms. Brzezinski returned to MSNBC on January 26, 2007, doing the evening "Up To The Minute" news updates. Since then she has anchored primetime newsbreaks during the week, filling in on MSNBC Live weekdays and on the weekends. Brzezinski appears daily as a co-host and news reader on MSNBC`s morning program, with her father as a frequent guest Morning Joe. On June 26, 2007, near the beginning of Morning Joe, Ms. Brzezinski refused to read a report about Paris Hilton`s release from jail. One hour later during another news break segment, her producer Andy Jones again pushed the story as the lead, ranking it over Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana`s break with President Bush on the Iraq war, which Ms. Brzezinski considered more important. After several sarcastic remarks from host Joe Scarborough, she attempted to light the story`s script on fire on the air, but was physically prevented from doing so. The incident was quickly popularized on the Internet, and in the days that followed Brzezinski received large quantities of fan mail supporting her on-air protest as a commentary on the tension between “hard news” and “entertainment news.” On September 16, 2008 on MSNBC`s morning program, Morning Joe, Arizona senator John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, referred to Ms. Brzezinski as being "a supporter for (the Democratic nominee, Barack) Obama" and ribbed her for never visiting Senator McCain`s website to research his side of the issues. Reviewing the episode, Ms. Brzezinski said: "I think he was kidding, to an extent. But I think that was bad joke in some ways because it`s a little bit hard for a journalist to be made fun of in that way. ... No one has been more defensive about Sarah Palin as a working mother than me and I`ve taken on my own peers." More recently, she criticized the way some journalists are infatuated with President Obama and his wife Michelle, stating "I still don’t think it’s right to be in love with him ... and to be acting like a little girl at a Beatles concert.” At the same time, she criticized members of the media elite with trying deliberately to "bring down" Sarah Palin: "Members of the network media elite, as well as members and people who worked for the New York Times when Sarah Palin first came on the scene, and this is what they knew about her: She was a woman, she was pro-life, and she had some very, very conservative views on other issues" ...And all I could hear from my friends in the network media elite was, ‘Let’s bring her down. I hope these rumors bring her down`. . . . They did not know her. They didn’t know anything about her. But they wanted to bring her down.” She has continued her support for Governor Palin even after her resignation, saying she represented the views of "some real Americans, though not herself." Friday, February 19, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Richard Reeves – Journalist of Acclaim and American Historian Speaking on: “Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift – June 1948-May 1949” 12-Noon Luncheon Commonwealth Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) Friends of the Writers Series & Red Sox Season Ticket Holders – $50 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Reeves` book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. About Richard Reeves Richard Reeves, Senior Lecturer at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, is an author and syndicated columnist whose column has appeared in more than 100 newspapers since 1979. A new column also appears on Yahoo! News each Friday. He has received dozens of awards for his work in print, television and film. Educated as a mechanical engineer, Richard Reeves began his career in journalism at the age of 23, founding the Phillipsburg Free Press in Phillipsburg, N.J. He has been a correspondent for the Newark Evening News and the New York Herald Tribune and was the Chief Political Correspondent of The New York Times. He has also written for numerous other publications, becoming National Editor and Columnist for Esquire and New York Magazine along the way. Named a "literary lion" by the New York Public Library, Reeves has won a number of print journalism awards and has been a Pulitzer Prize finalist and juror. In 1975, Reeves published his first book, "A Ford, not a Lincoln." His "President Kennedy: Profile of Power" is now considered the authoritative work on the 35th president, has won several national awards and was named the Best Non-Fiction Book of 1993 by Time and Book of the Year by Washington Monthly. Reeves has also worked extensively on television and in film. He was Chief Correspondent on "Frontline". He has made six television films and won all of television`s major documentary awards: the Emmy for "Lights, Camera . . . Politics!" for ABC News; the Columbia-DuPont Award for "Struggle for Birmingham" for PBS; and the George Foster Peabody Award for "Red Star over Khyber" for PBS. He has also appeared in two feature films, "Dave" and "Seabiscuit". In 1998, he won the Carey McWilliams Award of the American Political Science Association for distinguished contributions to the understanding of American politics. He was the Goldman Lecturer on American Civilization and Government at the Library of Congress that year; the lectures were published by Harvard University Press under the title "What the People Know: Freedom and the Press." In 2007, W.W. Norton will publish his biography — and re-creation of the experiments — of Ernest Rutherford, the Nobel prizewinning physicist, who was born on the frontier of New Zealand in 1871 and went on to become the greatest experimental scientist of his time, discovering the unimagined subatomic world we now know and then splitting the atom he first envisioned. He is currently working in the United States and Europe on a history of the Berlin Airlift, scheduled for publication in 2008.experimental scientist of his time, discovering the unimagined subatomic world we now know and then splitting the atom he first envisioned. He is currently working in the United States and Europe on a history of the Berlin Airlift, scheduled for publication in 2008. Positions Chief Correspondent, Frontline, PBS, 1981-1984. Panelist, We Interrupt This Week, PBS, 1978 National Editor and Columnist, Esquire, 1976-1980. National Editor and Columnist, New York Magazine, 1971-1976. Chief Political Correspondent, The New York Times, 1966-1971. Correspondent, The New York Herald Tribune, 1965-66. Correspondent, The Newark Evening News, 1963-65. Editor, Phillipsburg (N.J.) Free Press, 1961-63. Engineer, Ingersoll-Rand Co., 1960-61. Publications President Nixon: Alone in the White House, Simon and Schuster, 2001 What The People Know: Freedom and the Press, Harvard University, 1998 Do the Media Govern?, Sage, 1997 (with Shanto Iyengar) Family Travels: Around the World in 30 Days, Andrews and McMeel, 1997 Character Above All, Vol. 4, Simon and Schuster Audio, 1996 Running in Place, Andrews and McMeel, 1996 President Kennedy: Profile of Power, Simon and Schuster, 1993 The Reagan Detour, Simon and Schuster, 1984 Passage to Peshawar, Simon and Schuster, 1983 American Journey; Travelling with Tocqueville, Simon and Schuster, 1982 Jet Lag, Andrews and McMeel, 1981 Convention, Harcourt Brace, 1977 Old Faces of 1976, Harper and Row, 1976 A Ford, not a Lincoln, Harcourt Brace, 1975 Hundreds of magazine articles on public affairs for most major American magazines, including particularly New York Magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine. Films "Plowing Up a Storm", PBS, 1986 "Red Star Over Afghanistan", PBS, 1984 "Struggle for Birmingham", PBS, 1984 "American Journey", PBS, 1983 Lights, Camera . . . Politics", ABC, 1980 "TV on Trial", PBS, 1978 Awards Carey McWilliams Award of the American Political Science Association, 1998 Goldman Lecturer, Library of Congress, 1997 PEN Non-Fiction Book of the Year, 1993 Washington Monthly Book of the Year, 1993 Christophers Book of the Year, 1983 Columbia-Peabody Award, 1984 George Foster Peabody Award, 1984 Christopher Award, 1982 National Emmy, 1980 Silver Gavel, American Bar Association, 1978 Literary Lion, New York Public Library Lifetime Achievement Award, National Society of Newspaper Columnists Honorary Degrees: Stevens Institute of Technology; Drew University; St. Joseph`s College Monday, February 1, 2010 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: The 8th Annual Birthday Tribute to the Life of Jackie Robinson Featuring Pat Williams – Senior VP of the Orlando Magic and One of America’s Greatest Motivational Speakers Author of and Speaking on: “How to Be Like Jackie Robinson: Life Lessons from Baseball’s Greatest Hero” 4:00 PM Reception State Street Pavilion – Fenway Park (enter at Number 20 Yawkey Way) Friends of the Writers Series & Red Sox Season Ticket Holders – $45 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Williams` book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Biographical Brief – Pat Williams Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA’s Orlando Magic. As one of America’s top motivational, inspirational, and humorous speakers, he has addressed thousands of executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies and national associations to universities and nonprofits. Clients include AllState, American Express, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Disney, Honeywell, IBM, ING, Lockheed Martin, Nike, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Tyson Foods to name a few. Pat served for seven years in the United States Army, spent seven years in the Philadelphia Phillies organization—two as a minor league catcher and five in the front office—and has also spent three years in the Minnesota Twins organization. Since 1968, he has been in the NBA as general manager for teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia—including the 1983 World Champion 76ers—and now the Orlando Magic, which he co-founded in 1987 and helped lead to the NBA finals in 1995. Twenty-three of his teams have gone to the NBA playoffs and five have made the NBA finals. In 1996, Pat was named as one of the 50 most influential people in NBA history by Beckett’s, a national publication. Pat has been an integral part of NBA history, including bringing the NBA to Orlando. He has traded Pete Maravich as well as traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Penny Hardaway, and he has won four NBA draft lotteries, including back-to-back winners in 1992 and 1993. He also drafted Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Darryl Dawkins. He signed Billy Cunningham, Chuck Daly, and Matt Guokas to their first professional coaching contracts. Nineteen of his former players have become NBA head coaches, nine have become college head coaches while seven have become assistant NBA coaches. Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 24 to 37. For one year, 16 of his children were all teenagers at the same time. Pat and his family have been featured in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, The Wall Street Journal, Focus on the Family, New Man Magazine, plus all of the major television networks, The Maury Povich Show and Dr. Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power. Pat teaches an adult Sunday school class at First Baptist Church of Orlando and hosts three weekly radio shows. In the last 13 years, he has completed 54 marathons—including the Boston Marathon 12 times—and also climbed Mt. Rainier. He is a weightlifter, Civil War buff and serious baseball fan. Every winter he plays in Major League Fantasy Camps and has caught Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Tom Seaver and Goose Gossage. Pat was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, earned his bachelors degree at Wake Forest University, and his master’s degree at Indiana University. He is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame after catching for the Demon Deacon baseball team, including the 1962 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship team. He is also a member of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame. Some of Pat Williams’ 40 Books: Read about and listen to Pat Williams: http://www.patwilliamsmotivate.com Wednesday, December 2, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series with the Boston Celtics Proudly Present: Jackie MacMullan – Sports Illustrated & Boston Globe Legendary Sports Writer Author of and Speaking on: “When the Game Was Ours” 12-Noon Luncheon Commonwealth Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) Friends of the Writers Series, Red Sox and Celtics Season Ticket Holders – $55 (price includes an autographed copy of Ms. MacMullan’s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Biographical Brief – Jackie MacMullan Jackie MacMullan `82 was there when it happened. A moment so devastating that Red Sox fans still wince at the mere mention of it. 1986. Shea Stadium. Game 6. Bottom of the 10th. Twice the Sox came within a single strike of winning their first World Series in 75 years, but they had already squandered their lead when Mets left fielder Mookie Wilson hit a weak ground ball. It bounced beneath the mitt of first baseman Bill Buckner, scooted between his legs, and dribbled away. The Red Sox had lost the game, and Shea Stadium erupted. Up in the press box, MacMulllan got her orders: Wait on Buckner. The 26-year-old reporter wasn`t the most seasoned of the 10 Boston Globe sportswriters at the game. But she was fast, and the paper`s 1 a.m. deadline loomed, less than an hour away. Down in the Red Sox clubhouse, she watched as cartloads of champagne and T-shirts were hastily wheeled out. Then a grim calm settled on the room; Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd sobbed in the corner. A full 45 minutes passed before Buckner emerged from the showers to face a phalanx of TV cameras. Speaking so softly that MacMullan had to strain to catch his words, he described the ground ball as if in slow motion: "It was bouncing, bouncing, bouncing . . . then it went under." MacMullan raced back up to the press box to patch together her quotes as best she could. Adrenaline threatened to curdle into panic as her boss, sports editor Vince Doria, hovered at her shoulder. "You`ve gotta get it in," he kept saying. "You`ve gotta get it in." "It was the saddest story in Boston sports history," she says, "and I had nine minutes to write it." But write it she did, and the next morning her story gave Globe readers a glimpse of Buckner quietly trying to explain himself in the glare of television lights. Since then MacMullan has interviewed many a famous athlete for the Globe, Sports Illustrated or one of her three books. Stars like Tedy Bruschi, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird and Charles Barkley don`t just talk games and stats with her, however. They have all given her compelling stories they wouldn`t share with any other writer. "I write about sports," she says. "But I write about people in sports." Before MacMullan began to write about athletes, she was an athlete herself. At five feet 11 inches, she stood out in the corridors of Westwood (Mass.) High School, and girls` basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith, who suspected MacMullan could become a great low-post player, invited her to try out. "She`d make fun of herself because she`s one of those tall, lanky girls," says Delaney-Smith, now head coach of the women`s varsity basketball team at Harvard. "You wouldn`t look at the way she played and think she was that good." But that didn`t matter to the coach, as long as she kept scoring. Meanwhile, MacMullan had become frustrated by the lack of coverage given to girls` sports in the local newspaper. She complained to her father, who urged her to call up the paper. The sports editor tossed her a challenge: "Why don`t you write something and I`ll put it in the paper?" "I`m a kid," protested the 15-year-old. But before she knew it, the kid had her own column. Her subject: girls who were exceptional athletes. By the time she got to UNH, MacMullan knew she wanted to be a sportswriter, and the late Don Murray `48, director of the journalism program, encouraged her. Twice he urged her to take one of her stories over to the editors of the New Hampshire, UNH`s student newspaper. She recalls being too scared to take his advice. Finally, he said, "Look, either you want to do this or you don`t." Journalism professor Andrew Merton `67 played a different role in MacMullan`s development as a budding journalist. "What have I learned from this?" he would ask, waving her homework assignment in the air. "Nothing! Teach me something I don`t already know." At the end of the semester, she wrote a story about Mary Brady Legere `82, now a lieutenant colonel in the Army, showing how the 19-year-old ROTC student overcame her terror of jumping out of an airplane. MacMullan had at last succeeded in teaching Merton something he didn`t already know. At UNH, MacMullan also played basketball, walking onto the varsity team as a freshman. She led the squad in scoring her sophomore season and as a senior became a co-captain. She excelled, she believes, not because she had exceptional ability, but because she had a willingness to work hard. She applied the same work ethic to preparing for her career, completing not one but two newspaper internships--at the Gloucester (Mass.) Daily Times and the Boston Globe. The Globe hired her as a sportswriter in 1983. From the beginning, her experience as an athlete helped MacMullan understand the players, and the extra stamina came in handy for dashing from press box to locker room. Once she got there, however, she was hardly made to feel welcome. In the early years of her career, she was bounced from a locker room by UMass security guards and told "You don`t belong in there," by Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach. She narrowly avoided injury when Lawrence Taylor of the New York Giants threw a hair dryer at her. "In the beginning, probably 90 percent of the time I was the only woman in there," she says. "It was a huge issue--one that made you wonder whether you wanted to do the job or not." Not one to bear a grudge, MacMullan went on to establish good working relationships with some of the athletes who initially resented her presence, like former Red Sox pitcher Bruce Hurst, and she developed not only great respect but great affection for Auerbach. (She still wonders, though, if New England Patriots coach Bill Belichik will ever take her seriously.) Today she finds that the younger male athletes think nothing of seeing a woman in the locker room. Just as MacMullan had prided herself on working harder than other players on the basketball court, she was determined to do the same on the job. When she started covering the Celtics in 1988, she was the only reporter who attended both morning and evening practices during preseason training camp. When Larry Bird failed to appear for the annual Celtics media day, she found him at an evening practice, ready to vent. Angry about contract negotiations and convinced that the general manager was treating him like a rookie, the 32-year-old star vowed to negotiate only with Red Auerbach, then president of the team. MacMullan`s story on Bird`s discontent sparked a new, and successful, round of negotiations. Competition was a powerful motivator for the young reporter. "There was nothing worse than getting up in the morning, looking at the other paper--and they had something that you didn`t have," she says. "I just hated it." In 1989, she got permission from her boss to stay home for Christmas and meet the Celtics on the West Coast the next day. A Boston Herald reporter, on the other hand, flew with them and got the scoop on the contract extension guard Dennis Johnson was about to sign. "I got beat because I spent Christmas with my family," she says. "I didn`t have any children then. I did the wrong thing." At the time, MacMullan was on the road perhaps 250 days a year, and she eventually traveled to 48 states, South Korea, China, and several other countries. Although she missed countless weddings and ski weekends, she didn`t mind the travel--until the birth of her daughter, Alyson, in 1992. She hit a low point the following spring during the NBA quarterfinals. When the Bulls failed to clinch the series against the Suns in Chicago, she found herself flying west for Game 7 instead of east to husband Michael Boyle `82 and 1-year-old Alyson in Westford, Mass. When she got to Phoenix, MacMullan was so distraught that she left her bags at the airport and boarded the next flight home. She didn`t talk to her boss, sports editor Don Skwar, for five days. When she finally did, she was convinced that she had to quit. But Skwar urged her to stay on and travel less. From Skwar`s point of view, MacMullan was definitely worth keeping. To be a good journalist, one must a good reporter, a good interviewer and a good writer, he says, "and she`s off the charts in all three categories." Her current boss, Globe sports editor Joe Sullivan, adds that MacMullan has a singular ability to get people to share their innermost secrets. "They want to tell her their life`s story." In January 2005, Tedy Bruschi, a New England Patriots linebacker and two-time Super Bowl winner, talked with MacMullan about his early years as a pro. "I was crazy on the field, and I was crazy off it," he confided. "I had a chip on my shoulder the size of a boulder." He traced his struggles with aggression and anger back his parents` divorce and the class warfare in his hometown. "Did you ever see the movie `The Outsiders`?" he asked. "Well, the Oakmont kids were the socs [socialites]. We were the greasers." For the first time in print, he also revealed that he had licked a drinking problem for the sake of his wife and kids. Shortly after MacMullan`s story came out, Bruschi suffered a mild stroke at the age of 31. He turned away hundreds of requests for interviews. When he decided to break his silence six months later, however, he dialed MacMullan`s cell phone. Another player who shared his life story with MacMullan was NBA All-Star Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks, a shy Jamaican who had immigrated to the Boston area as a super-tall 11-year-old. Her April 1993 Globe story on Ewing explained why he always seemed so sullen when he returned to his hometown: You don`t smile when people scream obscenities at you, or draw pictures of apes hanging from trees with your name spelled out underneath. Why should he be friendly to these people? They threw bricks through the window of his school bus, spraying glass into the eyes of his teammates. They called him a freak. They called him a nigger . The story gave a new dimension to an athlete who, she wrote, had been looked upon as a "surly, angry, nasty player with boundless talent but no mercy." When the piece brought MacMullan an award for feature writing from the Associated Press Sports Editors--one of a number of national awards she has received--she remembered her journalism professor`s words and thought, Hey, Andy, read this one! Why do athletes talk so openly with MacMullan? There are certain tricks of the trade, she says, like coming prepared with background information from an athlete`s high school coach and hometown buddies. (Thus she learned how a 15-year-old Bruschi corrected a mispronunciation of his name: "No, Coach, that`s Tedy Brew-ski. As in, have another.") And she tries to see things from the athlete`s point of view. "I remember how scared I was the first time I showed up to practice and there were all these older players," she might say. Still, much of her success comes simply from her natural ease and warmth. She loves talking with people, hearing stories and telling stories. Sullivan says she`s "an incredible conversationalist." "She`s just a nice lady," says retired NBA superstar Charles Barkley. He was drawn to MacMullan from the beginning: "I looked at her as being a minority. I got into [professional basketball] in `84, and back then, 99 percent of the reporters I talked to were men. I wanted to make her feel comfortable. I knew what that would feel like, being the only black guy in the room." Over the years, Barkley has talked with MacMullan about the agony of a back injury: "Eating a Big Mac hurts." About the ability of young athletes, including himself, to squander millions. And even about his true height: "OK, so maybe I`m 6 foot 5." MacMullan`s career has continued to evolve since that day in 1993 when Don Skwar told her she could keep her job without having to be on the road all the time. Two years later, she started covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated. While she was there, Larry Bird invited her to collaborate on his 1999 memoir, Bird Watching. After leaving the magazine in 2000, she took two years off to be home with her family before returning to the Globe to take her current job as a sports columnist and executive editor. She also makes regular appearances on television as a correspondent for ESPN, NESN and Boston`s WHDH-TV. From time to time, she`s a panelist on two ESPN sports talk shows, "Cold Pizza" and "Around the Horn." But she thoroughly enjoyed a weeklong stint at UNH as a visiting journalist last year and may try teaching full time in the future. The television work has earned MacMullan a status her niece jokingly describes as "marginally famous." MacMullan downplays the glamorous aspects of her job, though, and she`s careful to keep her family and professional lives separate, going by Jackie Boyle outside of work. "My kids didn`t sign up for this," she says. MacMullan knew early on that she wanted to have a family, and she wanted to be part of that family--not the kind of parent who could never make it to her children`s events. There weren`t many role models for her to emulate at work. "You don`t find too many well-rounded people in the sports department," acknowledges Skwar. "People are extremely dedicated to one aspect of their lives and become consumed with that aspect. She`s able to balance a lot of aspects of her life." The Boyles live in an old white farmhouse with low ceilings and exposed beams. MacMullan is up before her children to get a head start on her work. When she can, she conducts interviews and writes during the day, finishing in time to meet their afternoon bus. Her office is the kitchen table, where two portable phones sit next to her laptop, and school projects hang on the refrigerator. Since she only needs to travel when a Boston team makes it into major playoffs or a national series, she can usually attend the events that are important to Alyson, now 15, who plays basketball and field hockey and runs track, and 10-year-old Doug, who has more of a theatrical and musical bent. Still there is no escaping the "on call" aspect of her job. In the middle of a dinner party at a friend`s house last December, she got word that Red Auerbach had died. She sequestered herself in a bedroom for more than an hour in order to write a tribute to the legendary basketball coach and give ESPN a live telephone interview. Through all the night and weekend games, the years of extensive travel, and the need to be on call day and night, husband Michael Boyle has been, in MacMullan`s words, a "very important, quiet background guy." So much in the background, in fact, that when she was pregnant, Charles Barkley used to tease her about her imaginary husband--Sasquatch, he called him. (Last fall, when Barkley was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the two finally met, and Barkley gave the elusive Bigfoot a bear hug.) MacMullan particularly appreciates her husband`s ability to remain unfazed by her semi-celebrity and her interaction with some of the most famous athletes in the country. Which is not to say that he`s immune to the gravitational pull of sports. After Buckner`s error in 1986, he vowed never to root for the Red Sox again. Nevertheless, there he was back on the couch on Oct. 27, 2004, watching the World Series as MacMullan covered it out in St. Louis. The game ends at 11:40 p.m. and the Red Sox have won the World Series for the first time in 86 years. Down in the clubhouse the athletes are dousing each other in champagne, beer and tears of joy. Up on the field the fans are dancing in full Red Sox regalia beneath a moon tinged, yes, red by a lunar eclipse. MacMullan`s fingers are dancing on her laptop. It`s the happiest story in Boston sports history--and she has 18 minutes to write it. By Patrick McClary and Virginia Stuart Thursday, November 5, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: William M. Bulger – Former President, Massachusetts State Senate and the University of Massachusetts Author of and Speaking on: “James Michael Curley: A Short Biography With Personal Reminisces” 6:30 PM Reception – 7:00 PM Dinner Commonwealth Room – Hotel Commonwealth 500 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Square “T” Stop) Friends of the Writers Series, BoSox Members & Red Sox Season Ticket Holders – $50 (price includes an autographed copy of President Bulger’s book); all others, $60 Event Sponsor: Biographical Brief – William M. Bulger Two of the most intriguing political figures in Boston history come together in this new book from Commonwealth Editions, a leading publisher of books of regional interest, based in Beverly, Massachusetts. Author William M. Bulger, who served as president of both the Massachusetts Senate and the University of Massachusetts, was inspired to enter politics by his subject. James Michael Curley, who died two years before Bulger’s first run for office in 1960, dominated the political scene for over half a century as Boston councilor, alderman, and mayor, and Massachusetts governor and congressman. Eloquent, passionate, ever loyal to his constituents, Curley was a lightning rod for controversy throughout a political career extending from his first run for office in 1897 to his last in 1955. How did Curley keep such a grip on the public imagination? Who better to ask than Bulger, an eloquent, passionate, loyal, and controversial Boston politician of his own day? Bulger proudly takes on the myth and the man, explaining just why the “rascal” Curley was such an inspiration to the generation who followed him on the hustings. “We do not look as favorably on politicians of our own day as on those who have braved the political tumult of their own day,” writes Bulger. “And none did so more boldly, daringly, and colorfully than James Michael Curley. His life affirms the idea that the political struggle is a worthy undertaking.” Wednesday, September 30, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Mark Frost – A Peabody & Emmy Award Winning Writer/Producer & Bestselling Novelist Author of and Speaking on: “Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime" 12-Noon Luncheon EMC Club (enter at 20 Yawkey Way) Friends of The Writers Series and Red Sox Season Ticket Holders, $50 All others, $65 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Frost`s book) Mark Frost – Biographical Brief Bestselling author and award-winning writer-producer Mark Frost studied directing and playwriting at Carnegie Mellon University. At the age of 20 he began his television career writing for the sci-fi classic "The Six Million Dollar Man," after which he moved to Minneapolis and worked as Literary Associate at the Guthrie Theatre and playwright-in-residence at the Midwestern Playwright’s Lab. After writing and producing documentaries for PBS, Frost received a Writer`s Guild Award and an Emmy nomination for his work as Executive Story Editor on the celebrated television series "Hill Street Blues." His first feature credits came as writer and Associate Producer of "The Believers," directed by John Schlesinger and starring Martin Sheen and Jimmy Smits. In 1989, he founded Lynch-Frost Productions with director David Lynch. Together they created and executive produced the legendary ABC series "Twin Peaks," receiving four Emmy nominations and a Peabody Award. In 1990 he also created the groundbreaking documentary series "American Chronicles." Twentieth Century Fox released Frost`s critically acclaimed directorial feature debut, "Storyville," a political thriller starring James Spader and Jason Robards, in 1992. Frost`s first novel, "The List of Seven," became a national bestseller in 1994, and was published around the world in 26 languages. The sequel, "The Six Messiahs," was published in 1996, with his third novel, "Before I Wake," following in 1998. In 1999, Frost created and executive produced "Buddy Faro," starring Dennis Farina, for CBS. In 2001, he executive produced "All Souls" for Spelling Television and UPN. His fourth book, a non-fiction account of the 1913 U.S. Open, "The Greatest Game Ever Played," became a national bestseller in 2002, and won the USGA`s Book of the Year Award. He wrote and produced the feature film of "Greatest Game" for Walt Disney Studios. Frost`s biography of golfing great Bobby Jones, "The Grand Slam," was published in November, 2004. A native of New York City, Mark Frost lives in Los Angeles and upstate New York. Thursday, September 10, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Robert Kuttner – Co-Founder & Co-Editor, The American Prospect Author of and Speaking on: “Obama’s Challenge: America`s Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency” 12-Noon Luncheon The Great Bay Restaurant - Private Dining Room Hotel Commonwealth – 500 Commonwealth Avenue (Kenmore Station T Stop) Friends of the Writers Series – $40 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Kuttner’s book) Event Sponsor: Robert Kuttner – Briefly Biographical Robert Kuttner is co-founder and co-editor of The American Prospect magazine, as well as a Distinguished Senior Fellow of the think tank Demos. He was a longtime columnist for Business Week, and continues to write columns in the Boston Globe. "The Squandering of America," exploring the political roots of America`s narrowing prosperity and the systemic financial risks facing the U.S. economy, is his seventh book. The book was recently honored with the Sidney Hillman Journalism Award. He has begun work on a new book on trade, equality, efficiency, and the challenge of regulating global capitalism. Bob`s best-known earlier book is "Everything for Sale: the Virtues and Limits of Markets" (1997). The book received a page one review in the New York Times Book Review. Of it, the late economist Robert Heilbroner wrote, "I have never seen the market system better described, more intelligently appreciated, or more trenchantly criticized than in Everything for Sale." His previous books on economics and politics include; "The End of Laissez-Faire" (1991); "The Life of the Party" (1987); "The Economic Illusion" (1984); and "Revolt of the Haves" (1980). His magazine writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine and Book Review, The Atlantic, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Foreign Affairs, Dissent, Columbia Journalism Review, and Harvard Business Review. He has contributed major articles to The New England Journal of Medicine as a national policy correspondent. His other positions have included national staff writer on the Washington Post, chief investigator of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, and economics editor of The New Republic. Robert Kuttner was educated at Oberlin, The London School of Economics, and the University of California at Berkeley. He has taught at Brandeis, Boston University, the University of Massachusetts, and Harvard`s Institute of Politics. For four decades, Bob`s intellectual and political project has been to revive the politics and economics of harnessing capitalism to serve a broad public interest. He has pursued this ideal as a writer, editor, teacher, lecturer, commentator and public official. The Challenge: To Be a Transformative President Barack Obama approaches the Presidency at a critical moment in American history, facing simultaneous crises of war, the environment, health care, but most especially in the economy. If he is able to rise to the moment, he could join the ranks of a small handful of previous presidents who have been truly transformative, succeeding in fundamentally changing our economy, society, and democracy for the better. But this will require imaginative and decisive action as Obama takes office, action bolder than he has promised during his campaign, and will be all the more difficult given the undertow of conventional wisdom in Washington and on Wall Street that resists fundamental change. Decades of regressive politics and political gridlock have left America in its most precarious situation since the onset of the Great Depression. The collapse of the housing bubble continues, as does the financial meltdown it triggered; a revival of 1970s style stagflation threatens; incomes continue to lag behind inflation; our household and international debts pile higher; disastrous climate change looms; energy and food prices continue their escalation; and the ranks of un- and under-insured Americans grow as the health insurance system unravels. Facing their own great challenges, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson rallied the American people to overcome deadlocked politics in order to achieve progressive transformations—abolishing slavery, transcending economic depression, and redeeming the promise of civil rights. In his own way, Ronald Reagan oversaw a grand shift in public attitudes and government direction. Each president used exceptional leadership to change the national mood, and then the national policy. By appealing to what was most noble in the American spirit, these presidents energized movements for change, and in turn put pressure on themselves and on the Congress to move far beyond what was deemed conceivable. They generated accelerating momentum for far-reaching reforms that proved politically irresistible. Solutions to our multiple challenges do exist, but they won’t be found in overly cautious or expedient quick fixes. With his exceptional skill at appealing to our better angels, Barack Obama could be the right leader at the right time to re-awaken America to the renewed promise of shared prosperity coupled with responsibility towards future generations and the international community with whom we share the Earth. Invoking America’s greatest leaders, Robert Kuttner explains how Obama must be a transformative president—or a failed one. Advance Praise "A manifesto, forceful but fair, by a leading political economist who lays out a bold but solid program if Obama is elected. As current as the morning`s newspaper, this book should be read by all activists-especially Barack Obama." --James MacGregor Burns, author of Leadership "Robert Kuttner has incisively captured the political moment, underscored by the deepening economic crisis. Lucidly and passionately, he lays out the hurdles facing an Obama presidency and challenges him to seize the moment and achieve greatness by redeeming the promise of America." --Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief, The Huffington Post "As Kuttner convincingly argues, a President Barack Obama will have a historic opportunity to radically transform America`s direction -- but only if he rejects the tired "centrist" policies of the past and inspires its citizens to forge new progressive paths. Kuttner systematically lays out the case for why Obama should give full voice to a a robust progressive message at a time when the American people are suffering from years of conservative policy. "Obama`s Challenge" is an enlightening road map for all Americans who hunger for a change in direction and priorities in America, and who hope Obama can be that agent of change." --Markos Moulitsas, founder, DailyKos.com, author of Taking on the System and co-author of Crashing the Gate "Bob Kuttner pulls off the all-but-impossible. He hits the high notes with artful precision, lifting expectations and articulating the steps that can make Barack Obama a great president--while setting forth a strong and highly readable call for comprehensive and essential economic change." --John Sweeney, AFL-CIO President Friday, August 14, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Larry Tye – The Greatly Esteemed Former Boston Globe Reporter Author of and Speaking on: “Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend" 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Friends of The Writers Series and Red Sox Season Ticket Holders, $55 All Others, $65 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Tye`s book) To register for this event please click here. Leroy “Satchel” Paige was the most sensational pitcher ever to throw a baseball. During his years in the Negro Leagues he fine-tuned a pitch so scorching that catchers tried to soften the sting by cushioning their gloves with beefsteaks. His career stats — 2,000 wins, 250 shutouts, three victories on the same day — are so eye-popping they seem like misprints. But bigotry kept big league teams from signing him until he was forty-two, at which point he helped propel the Cleveland Indians to the World Series. Over a career that spanned four decades, Satchel pitched more baseballs, for more fans, in more ballparks, for more teams, than any player in history. Now there is a book worthy of this towering talent and boundary breaker. In "Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend," award-winning author and journalist Larry Tye untangles myth from truth about this flawed yet majestic man. Tye shows us Satchel as a self-promoter who selflessly fought to guarantee his teammates richer paydays. He was a Casanova with outsized appetites — and a devoted father who towered over baseball with his skill as well as his shrewdness. This new book also rewrites our history of the integration of baseball, with Satchel Paige in a starring role. While many dismissed him as a Stepin Fetchit, Satchel was something else entirely: a quiet subversive. He pitched so spectacularly that he drew the spotlight first to himself, then to his all-black Kansas City Monarchs, and inevitably to the Monarchs’ rookie second baseman Jackie Robinson. In the process, Satchel, even more than Jackie, opened the door for African Americans to the national pastime and forever changed his sport and this nation. Larry Tye – Biographical Brief Larry Tye runs the Boston-based Health Coverage Fellowship, which is designed to help the media do a better job covering critical health care issues. Each year it trains 10 medical journalists from newspapers, radio stations and TV outlets from across the country, on topics ranging from public health and mental health to insuring the uninsured. From 1986 to 2001, Tye was a reporter at the Boston Globe, where his primary beat was medicine. He also served as the Globe’s environmental reporter, roving national writer, investigative reporter, and sports writer. Before that he was the environmental reporter at the Courier-Journal in Louisville, and covered government and business at the Anniston Star in Alabama. Tye’s first book, "The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and the Birth of Public Relations," was published in 1998 by Crown. Spin was the subject of reports on CNN, CSPAN’s “Book Notes,” two shows on National Public Radio, and a multi-part BBC series on Bernays and his uncle, Sigmund Freud. His second book, "Home Lands: Portraits of the New Jewish Diaspora," was published by Henry Holt in 2001. It looks at the renewal underway across the Jewish world, from Boston to Buenos Aires, Dusseldorf to Dnepropetrovsk deep in the Ukraine. In each community children are leading parents and grandparents back to their culture and faith, and in each Jews feel confident living in diverse societies while still embracing a core of beliefs and practices that define them as Jews. "Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class," was released in 2004 by Henry Holt. It explores the 100-year history of the black men who worked on George Pullman’s railroad sleeping cars, looking at how they launched the first successful black trade union, helped kick-start the Civil Rights movement, and gave birth to today’s African-American middle class. "Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy (Avery/Penguin, 2006)," was a collaboration with Kitty Dukakis, the former first lady of Massachusetts. It is partly a journalist’s first-person account of psychiatry’s most controversial treatment, partly a portrait of how that treatment gave one woman a new sense of control and hope after two decades of debilitating depression. Tye, who lives with his wife and two children outside of Boston, was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University in 1993-94. He is now working on a biography of Superman for Random House. Friday, July 10, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Bill Keller – Executive Editor, The New York Times Author of and Speaking on: “The Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela" 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Friends of The Writers Series and Red Sox Season Ticket Holders, $50 All others, $60 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Keller`s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Bill Keller – Briefly Biographical Bill Keller became executive editor of The New York Times in July 2003. Before that Mr. Keller had been an Op-Ed columnist and senior writer for The New York Times Magazine as well as other areas of the newspaper since September 2001. Previously, he served as managing editor from 1997 until September 2001 after having been the newspaper’s foreign editor from June 1995 until 1997. He was the chief of The Times bureau in Johannesburg from April 1992 until May 1995. (He is the author of “The Tree Shaker: The Story of Nelson Mandela,” published in January, 2008 by Kingfisher.) Before that Mr. Keller had been a Times correspondent in Moscow from December 1986 until October 1991, the last three years as the newspaper’s bureau chief. He won a Pulitzer Prize in March 1989 for his coverage of the Soviet Union. Mr. Keller joined The New York Times in April 1984 as a domestic correspondent based in the Washington bureau. Before coming to The Times, Mr. Keller had been a reporter for The Dallas Times Herald since October 1982. From 1980 until 1982, he was a reporter for the Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report in Washington, covering lobbyists and interest groups. He was a reporter for The Portland Oregonian from July 1970 until March 1979. Mr. Keller graduated from Pomona College with a B.A. degree in 1970 and completed the Advanced Management Program at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in July 2000. He is currently a member of the board of trustees of Pomona College. Mr. Keller is married to Emma Gilbey Keller. Ms. Gilbey Keller is a writer and author of, "The Comeback: Seven Stories of Women Who Went from Career to Family and Back Again,” published in September, 2008 by Bloomsbury, as well as a biography of Winnie Mandela. He has three children, Tom, Molly and Alice. Wednesday, June 24, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: John Aloysius Farrell Author of and Speaking on: “Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century” 12-Noon Luncheon Room 902, Hart Senate Office Building - United States Capitol Friends of the Writers Series and Red Sox Fans – $40 Event Sponsor: John Aloysius Farrell – Briefly Biographical John Aloysius Farrell is the author of "Tip O`Neill and the Democratic Century," and of an upcoming biography of Clarence Darrow, the great American defense lawyer. To research and write the book on Darrow, in mid-2007 Farrell left his job as Washington Bureau Chief and Assistant Managing Editor for The Denver Post, and MediaNews bureau chief in the nation`s capital. The MediaNews chain, based in Denver, contains 50 newspapers, represented by a dozen reporters and columnists in the Washington bureau. It was while working as White House correspondent, Washington editor and deputy bureau chief for The Boston Globe, that Farrell researched and wrote his book on Tip O`Neill. Jack was awarded a Dirksen Congressional Center research grant for his biography of O`Neill. It also won the D.B. Hardeman Prize in 2003 for the best writing on Congress from the University of Texas and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation. In 1996, Jack received the Gerald R. Ford prize and the Aldo Beckman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for coverage of the presidency, the first time anyone had captured both awards in a single year. He has also won the 2001 Raymond Clapper Memorial Award for distinguished Washington reporting, the 1990 Roy Howard Public Service Prize, and a George Polk Award in 1984. During his tenure as Washington editor for the Globe, members of the 10-person staff won a George Polk award, the Raymond Clapper prize and the Aldo Beckman award. As an investigative reporter, Farrell`s work spurred congressional investigations by the House Appropriations Committee on the exploitation and theft of Native American natural resources (1985) and on the failure of the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute rape and other felony cases on Indian Reservations (1986); by the House Energy and Commerce Committee (1984) on faulty medical devices, and by the House Government Operations Committee (1991) on the failures of the Patriot missile during the Gulf War. A 1989 investigation conducted by Jack and other members of the Globe "Spotlight" team probed the conduct of municipal judges in Massachusetts and led to the appointment of a special master, whose report resulted in the resignation of three judges, and other reforms.\ Jack was born on Long Island and attended Holy Family High School in Huntington, NY and Robert E. Peary High School in Montgomery County, Md. He graduated from the University of Virginia "with distinction" in 1975. In his newspaper career, he has worked on the Annapolis Evening Capital, the Baltimore News American, The Boston Globe and The Denver Post. He is married, and has two children and an Australian Shepherd named Charlie. Farrell has served as a guest lecturer for classes at Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the United States Military Academy, Dartmouth College and American University. Reviews in Brief: "John Aloysius Farrell`s long, detailed and fascinating book is more than the definitive biography of a flawed but startlingly successful old-fashioned political leader. It`s also a guided tour through American governmental history from the beginning of the New Deal through the Reagan years.....An entertaining book and a valuable history of the fifty years that have changed America, probably forever." -- Mario Cuomo, New York Times Book Review "Beautifully written, lively and highly informative, this book excels not only as the best available biography of O`Neill but also as the most readable book for those who want to understand the modern Congress. Political junkies will savor it, the public will learn from it, and academics will want to use it in their classrooms." -- Library Journal Thursday, June 11, 2009 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Jim Nantz – The Legendary CBS Sportscaster Author of and Speaking on: “A Father`s Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other" 12-Noon Luncheon EMC Club (enter at 20 Yawkey Way) Friends of The Writers Series and Red Sox Season Ticket Holders, $55 All others, $65 (price includes an autographed copy of Mr. Nantz`s book) To register for this event please click here. Jim Nantz – Briefly Biographical Jim Nantz has covered virtually every sport for the CBS Television Network since joining it in 1985. This year marks Nantz`s 23rd year covering the NCAA Men`s Division I National Championship. He took over as lead play-by-play announcer for college basketball in 1990. Teamed with Billy Packer, he has called regular-season and NCAA Men`s Basketball Championship games since then. He has called the play-by-play on more network broadcasts of the Final Four and Championship game than any other announcer in the tournament`s history. From 1986 to 1990, he served as host of CBS`s coverage of the NCAA Tournament and Final Four. Nantz has been the lead play-by-play voice for THE NFL ON CBS since the 2004 season joining lead analyst Phil Simms on the Network`s number one NFL announce team. For six years, he anchored the Network`s NFL pre-game studio show, THE NFL TODAY. Last year, Nantz called play-by-play for Super Bowl XLI and in a 63-day span starting with his call of Super Bowl XLI on Feb. 4, 2007, Nantz became the first commentator in history to broadcast the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four and the Masters, all in the same year. His extensive credits include serving as host of THE SUPER BOWL TODAY, CBS Sports` Super Bowl XXXV and Super Bowl XXXVIII Pre-Game Show; anchor of CBS` golf coverage, including the Masters and the PGA Championship; lead play-by-play announcer for college basketball, including the Final Four and Championship game; and primetime host of CBS Sports` coverage of the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. Nantz was named the 2007 National Sportscaster of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. Nantz, Pat Summerall, Chris Schenkel, Ray Scott and John Madden are the only commentators to ever win the award while working at CBS Sports. He previously won the award in 2005 and 1998 and joined Schenkel and Scott as the only CBS broadcasters to win the award more than once. Nantz also was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as the youngest recipient of the Curt Gowdy Media Award in 2002. For Super Bowl XXXVIII in Houston, Nantz was the Host and Chairman of the first-ever Super Bowl Opening Ceremony and concert spectacular: Super Bowl XXXVIII: A Houston Salute. Nantz created and organized the event with former President George Bush, the chairman of the event. Along with former President Bush, and 41 of Houston`s sports legends, they welcomed the Super Bowl to the city by officially kicking off Super Bowl week. Nantz began his tenure at CBS Sports as host of the Network`s college football studio show (1985-88). He was lead play-by-play announcer for CBS`s coverage of college football (1989-90) and went on to cover the NFL in 1991. By 1993, he was calling play-by-play for the Network`s second-team coverage of THE NFL ON CBS and all regular-season and post-season broadcasts. He returned as the lead voice of college football in 1996, calling the National Championship Games for the 1996 and 1997 seasons (Fiesta Bowl; Nebraska vs. Florida and Orange Bowl; Tennessee vs. Nebraska, respectively). In 1997, he returned to the studio to anchor COLLEGE FOOTBALL TODAY. His lead role in college football has included coverage of the Orange, Cotton, Fiesta, Sun, Gator and Blockbuster Bowls. Nantz joined the CBS golf team in 1985. He became the anchor for the Network`s coverage in April 1994 and was partnered with Ken Venturi until June 2002, when Lanny Wadkins assumed the lead analyst`s role. Nantz has hosted CBS Sports` coverage of the Masters since 1988 and the PGA Championship since 1991 and served as anchor of the biennial Presidents Cup in 1994 and 1996. In addition, he had a prominent role in Kevin Costner`s 1996 hit movie Tin Cup. He also handled the play-by-play for regular- and post-season coverage of THE NBA ON CBS from 1986 to 1989. Nantz`s myriad assignments for CBS Sports include play-by-play at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships for nine years overall, co-hosting the weekend daytime coverage of the 1992 and 1994 Olympic Winter Games and coverage of NCAA track and field, skiing, speed skating, baseball, swimming and diving, gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Festival and Pan American Games and even polo. He also served as host of the Network`s coverage of the annual Macy`s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1994, 1995, 2000 and 2001. Nantz was graduated in 1981 with a degree in radio/television from the University of Houston, where he was recruited as a member of the golf team. He received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from his alma mater in May 2001 in recognition of his contributions to his profession and to the university. While a student at Houston, he held a variety of broadcasting jobs, which led to positions at the city`s CBS stations KHOU-TV and KTRH Radio. Before joining CBS Sports, Nantz was an anchor at KSL-TV Salt Lake City, then a CBS affiliate. While at KSL, he also broadcast Utah Jazz basketball games and did play-by-play with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young for BYU football games, including the 1984 National Championship year. Nantz is also an author. His new book, "Always By My Side -- A Father`s Grace and a Sports Journey Unlike Any Other" was released in May 2008. The book offers an inside look at the unprecedented 63 days (from February-April 2007) when Nantz became the first broadcaster to call the Super Bowl, the Final Four and the Masters. Because Nantz was unable to share this voyage with his dad, who was suffering from Alzheimer`s disease, this remarkable journey through America`s premier sporting events was bittersweet. The book tells his personal stories from football, basketball and golf and how he has met people along the way who remind him of the virtues his father instilled in him. The foreword to the book is written by one of his father figures and dear friend, former President George H.W. Bush. He was born May 17, 1959, in Charlotte, NC, and grew up in Colts Neck, NJ. He and his wife, Lorrie, live in Fairfield County, CT. They have one daughter, Caroline. Thursday, May 7, 2009 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Dr. Jean E. Rhodes – UMASS Boston Professor of Psychology and Authorized Biographer of Manny Ramirez Author of and Speaking on: “Becoming Manny: Inside the Life of Baseball`s Most Enigmatic Slugger” 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Friends of the Writers Series – $50 (price includes an autographed copy of Dr. Rhodes’s book) Event Sponsor: Dr. Jean E. Rhodes – Briefly Biographical Dr. Jean Rhodes is considered the world’s leading authority on mentoring. Her interests include mentoring relationships, risk and protective factors in adolescent development, emerging adulthood, preventive interventions, and the bridging of research, practice, and policy. Her research examines the development of adolescents and young adults with special attention to the role of non-parent adults. She is currently involved in a range of research projects that address the role of both formal and informal mentors in vulnerable groups including children of prisoners, survivors of Hurricane Katrina, community college students, high school dropouts, and low-income children in after-school settings. Her findings provide ample evidence of the extraordinary potential of mentoring relationships, while also exposing the rarely acknowledged risk for harm that unsuccessful relationships can render. A deeper understanding of these important relationships may lead to interventions and policies that better address the needs of youth. Professor Rhodes completed her Ph.D. in clinical/community psychology at DePaul University and her clinical internship at the University Of Chicago Pritzker School Of Medicine. She is a Fellow in the American Psychological Association and the Society for Research and Community Action, and a Distinguished Fellow of the William T. Grant Foundation. Dr. Rhodes is also a member of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and is currently Principal Investigator on grants from the National Science Foundation, the Picower Foundation, and the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. Professor Rhodes is Chair of the Research and Policy Council of the National Mentoring Partnership. She is Chair of the Research and Policy Council of the National Mentoring Partnership. She sits on the Board of Directors of the National Mentoring Partnership, and on the Advisory Boards of many mentoring and policy organizations, and serves on the editorial boards of several journals in community and adolescent psychology. Her book, "Stand by me: The risks and rewards of mentoring today`s youth" (Harvard University Press) was recently published in paperback. Wednesday, April 15, 2009 The Boston Red Sox and The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: Remembering Jackie Robinson Featuring Dr. Michael Long – Author of “First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson” With a Special Showing of Jackie Robinson Memorabilia by Stephen Schlein 12-Noon Luncheon State Street Pavilion (enter at Number 20 Yawkey Way) Friends of the Writers Series - $45 (price includes an autographed copy of Dr. Long`s book) Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Biographical Brief – Michael G. Long Michael G. Long is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Peace and Conflict Studies at Elizabethtown College. Dr. Long is the author of “First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Lettters of Jackie Robinson”; a book widely acclaimd for its insights into the man who changed America – and was infinitely more than an iconic athletic figure. Dr. Long has published numerous works on such subjects as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, Billy Graham, and Christian living. His book, “The Legacy of Billy Graham: Critical Reflections on America`s Great Evangelist”, was published last year. At Elizabethtown College he teaches courses on Christian social ethics, the Civil Rights Movement, and peace and conflict studies. About Stephen Schlein: Originally from Flatbush, Stephen Schlein grew up a fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers – and Jackie Robinson was his hero. As a teenager Stephen would wait outside Ebbets Field after games for the great Robinson and walk with him to the subway station. Jackie talked with him and gave him numerous autographs. Once he put his arm on Stephen’s shoulder and said, "How` did you like the game, kid?" During this period Stephen began collecting Jackie Robinson and Brooklyn Dodger memorabilia, a practice that became a lifetime pursuit (and, of course, he still has Jackie’s autographs). Here`s a partial listing of Stephen Schlein’s exhibitions in recent years: · Red Sox Birthday Tributes to Jackie Robinson at Fenway Park & the John F. Kennedy Library · The Brooklyn Historical Society, 2005 – celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1955 Brooklyn Dodger · The Museum of The City of New York, 2007 – celebrating "The Glory Days: New York Baseball 1947-1957” · The Sports Museum of America 2008 (New York City) Don’t miss his remarkable collection April 15. Thursday, March 5, 2009 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Linda Cohn – The Legendary ESPN SportsCenter Anchor Author of and Speaking on: “Cohn-Head: A No-Holds-Barred Account of Breaking Into the Boys Club" 12-Noon Luncheon Hotel Commonwealth — Great Bay Restaurant (at hotel`s main entrance) 300 Commonwealth Avenue (above the Kenmore Station T stop) Friends of The Writers Series, $50 Event Sponsor: To register for this event please click here. Linda Cohn – Briefly Biographical Linda Cohn, whose straightforward style and natural humor create an easy rapport with viewers, embraced a variety of new roles as of the summer of 2005. Her expanded assignments include: hosting ESPNEWS’ NFL Blitz (4-7 p.m. ET Sundays during the season); reporting from Detroit for a multiple programs leading up to Super Bowl XL; hosting weekly NASCAR segments Mondays on ESPNEWS during NEXTEL’s “Chase for the Cup;” hosting golf remotes for SportsCenter, including the TOUR Championship; and serving as play-by-play commentator for WNBA games and hosting the league’s All-Star game and Finals on ABC. She continues to anchor select SportsCenter’s including Saturdays during college football season. Previously as SportsCenter’s “late night” anchor on the 1 a.m. ET program, Cohn was seen throughout the morning as the show is re-aired every weekday from 5 a.m. to noon. Cohn also anchored select 11 p.m. ET shows. Since 2002, Cohn has provided on-site SportsCenter reports from the Men’s Final Four, and since 1998 has provided weekly “Extra Point” commentaries on ESPN Radio. Since January 2004, Cohn has anchored SportsCenter’s live X (Los Angeles) and Winter X Games (Aspen/Snowmass, Colo.) coverage, presenting highlights and introducing the final competition of events during the 11 p.m. SportsCenter. She had the honor of co-hosting the first-ever SportsCenter in high definition from ESPN’s new Digital Center on June 7, 2004. Cohn joined ESPN in 1992 and has successfully balanced working for a 24-hour sports network with spending quality time with her husband and two children. Known for her versatility, Cohn has hosted ESPN’s Baseball Tonight and National Hockey Night, ESPN2’s NHL 2Night and RPM 2Night and SportsCenter’s NBA All-Star Game coverage. She has also contributed to ESPN’s NFL Draft coverage, Major League Baseball playoff coverage, the ESPYs and Sunday NFL Countdown. During the 1998 season, she was one of three alternating hosts for the NFL on ESPN Radio, the network’s Sunday-long coverage of NFL games. She also provided play-by-play of ESPN and ESPN2’s coverage of the LPGA (1998-99). From 1999 to 2002, Cohn’s column “Linda Cohn’s Hotline” was regularly featured in ESPN The Magazine’s Life Section. Beginning October 1989, Cohn worked at KIRO-TV in Seattle where she was a weekend sports anchor/reporter. At KIRO, she covered the Seattle Mariners, Seahawks and Supersonics, the Washington Huskies, the NCAA Basketball West Regional in 1991, and the Goodwill Games in 1990. Prior to that, Cohn served as a sports reporter for both SportsChannel America and News 12 on Long Island (May 1988-October 1989). Cohn`s radio experience is highlighted by her becoming the first full-time female sports anchor on a national radio network (ABC) in 1987. She was a sports anchor for the ABC Radio Network and for WABC TalkRadio from 1987-89. Her work continued as she hosted a call-in show and provided sports updates at WFAN in New York from January-October 1989. Cohn began her career in sportscasting in Patchogue, N.Y., as a news anchor, writer and sports reporter for WALK-AM/FM in 1981. She continued her work with three other New York radio stations until 1987: WCBS NewsRadio 88 (1984-87); WCBS-FM (1984-87); WGBB-AM (1984-85). In 1985 she began working for WLIG-TV on Long Island as a part-time anchor and reporter. She also worked as anchor, news director and chief correspondent for Long Island News Tonight, a daily television news program (1985-86). Cohn received a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from SUNY at Oswego in 1981. As a senior at Newfield (N.Y.) High School, she served as the goalie on the boy`s ice hockey team and in college on the Oswego women’s ice hockey team. Friday, September 12, 2008 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Lou Gorman – The Legendary Former Red Sox General Manager Author of and Speaking on: "High and Inside: My Life in the Front Office of Baseball" The Honorable Michael Dukakis will introduce Mr. Gorman, and Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe will join in with Mr. Gorman a Q & A on how baseball’s front offices have changed over the past 40 years 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $65 To register for this event please click here. Lou Gorman – Biographical Brief James G. "Lou" Gorman is a former general manager of the Boston Red Sox. He served in this position from 1984 to 1993. After that, he became an executive consultant for public affairs with an emphasis on community projects. He also is the coordinator of the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame, to which he was inducted in 2002. He was inducted in the Kinston Professional Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985. A native of South Providence, Rhode Island, Gorman grew up a Red Sox fan. At the high school level, he was an excellent athlete, but was cut from the minors. After his professional baseball career stalled, Gorman enrolled in Stonehill College for his bachelor`s degree and Bridgewater State College for his master`s. After college, he joined the United States Navy and served more than eight years in the armed forces, including two tours in Korea. He started in baseball in 1961 with the San Francisco Giants, and worked in management and player development capacities for the Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Mets. He was the first farm system director in the history of the Royals, and the first-ever general manager of the Mariners when they entered the American League in 1977. He left Seattle to become vice president, player personnel of the Mets in 1980, where Gorman helped lay the foundation for the Mets` 1986 World Series championship - achieved at the expense of his next team, the Red Sox. In 1984, Gorman was offered a job as Vice President and General Manager for the team he rooted for his entire life, and took it. When he arrived, the team already had players like Roger Clemens, Wade Boggs, Dwight Evans and Bob Stanley, stars that would form the nucleus of the talented Red Sox teams of the late 1980s. However, it was Gorman`s acquisitions of Dave Henderson and Spike Owen that helped lead the Red Sox to the 1986 World Series. Though the team made it back to the playoffs in 1988 and 1990, they never got any closer to a championship than in his first year. Though he made several key trades, such as picking up Nick Esasky and Rob Murphy from Cincinnati and getting all-time saves leader Lee Smith. Lou Gorman is greatly respected and admired throughout Red Sox Nation. DAN SHAUGHNESSY is an award-winning columnist for The Boston Globe and one of the nation’s most highly regarded sports writers. Mr. Shaughnessy is the author of several books on baseball, "Reversing the Curse", and the best-selling "Curse of the Bambino," as well as "At Fenway: Dispatches from Red Sox Nation," "Seeing Red: The Red Auerbach Story," and, with Stan Grossfeld, "Spring Training." Michael Dukakis served 12 years as governor of Massachusetts. In 1988 he was the Democratic Party’s nominee for president of the United States. A life-long resident of Brookline, he now teaches at Northeastern University and UCLA. He and his wife, Kitty, have three children and seven grandchildren. Monday, July 28, 2008 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Robin Wright – National Security and Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Washington Post Author of and Speaking on: "Dreams and Shadows: The Future of the Middle East" 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 To register for this event please click here. Robin Wright – Biographical Brief Robin Wright has reported from more than a 140 countries on six continents for The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Sunday Times of London, CBS News and The Christian Science Monitor. She has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune and others. Her foreign tours include the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and several years as a roving foreign correspondent. She has covered a dozen wars and several revolutions. She now covers U.S. foreign policy for The Washington Post. Among several awards, Wright received the U.N. Correspondents Gold Medal, the National Magazine Award for reportage from Iran in The New Yorker, and the Overseas Press Club Award for "best reporting in any medium requiring exceptional courage and initia­tive" for coverage of African wars. She was named journalist of the year by the American Academy of Diplomacy, and won the National Press Club Award and the Weintal Prize for diplomatic reporting. Wright has also been the recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation grant. As an author, Ms. Wright has been a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the Brookings Institution, Yale University, Duke University, Stanford University, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. She lectures extensively around the United States and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN and PBS programs, including “Meet the Press,” “Face the Nation,” “This Week,” “Nightline,” the “Newshour,” “Frontline,” and "Larry King Live.’ Among her books, "The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran" was selected as one of the 25 most memorable books of the year 2000. She is also the author of "Sacred Rage: The Wrath of Militant Islam," "Flashpoints: Promise and Peril in a New World," and "In the Name of God: The Khomeini Decade." Sunday, June 22, 2008 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series & The New Repertory Theatre Proudly Present: The World Premier of Dick Flavin’s “According to Tip” Play at the Watertown Arsenal Center for the Arts 7:30 pm Cost of Preview: Pay-What-You-Can Reservations: 617-923-8487 or buy online at www.newrep.org. New Repertory Theatre in residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts announces the World Premiere of According to Tip, written by Dick Flavin and starring Ken Howard. “I’m thrilled to be working with Ken Howard and Dick Flavin on According to Tip,” said Rick Lombardo, New Rep’s Producing Artistic Director. “New Rep’s dedication to new work comes from a mission to expose Boston audiences to emerging playwrights, and to nurture the future of American theater.” "Ken Howard and Rick Lombardo are the perfect team to bring Tip O`Neill to life on the stage of the New Rep. I can hardly wait,” said playwright Dick Flavin. Re-elect Tip! Just in time for election season, New Rep brings you the World Premiere of According to Tip. Featuring Broadway and TV star Ken Howard, this play traces the colorful and historically memorable career of Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill, former Speaker of the House. Tip will escort you back in time from Barry’s Corner in Cambridge to the White House. Get the inside scoop on politics during the Red Scare, Watergate, and Vietnam in this touching played filled with humor, music, and beguiling Irish wit. New Repertory Theatre presents provocative and intelligent works of both established and emerging playwrights in an intimate setting that involves and engages the audience. New Rep has earned a reputation for dynamic productions that honor the writers and feature talented professional actors from the New England theatre community as well as guest artists from around the U.S. New Rep has received Elliot Norton and IRNE Awards for outstanding acting, scenic design, direction, and production. Programming at New Repertory Theatre is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. Lead Sponsor for According to Tip, Bank of America. The Artists: Rick Lombardo (Director) is now in his twelfth season as New Rep’s Producing Artistic Director. Earlier this year: A Streetcar Named Desire, A Pinter Duet: The Lover & Ashes to Ashes, The Clean House, and Dessa Rose. Last season: The Pillowman, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol (which he also adapted), Silence, and The Wild Party, as well as Hamlet for Actors’ Shakespeare Project. Other New Rep Credits: Ragtime (IRNE Awards-Best Director of a Musical and Best Musical); Bill W. and Dr. Bob (which he also directed Off-Broadway in the spring of 2007 at New World Stages in NY); Romeo and Juliet; Into the Woods (multiple IRNE Awards); Quills; Approaching Moomtaj; The Threepenny Opera; A Girl’s War; his new musical adaptation of Moliere’s Scapin; Waiting for Godot (IRNE Award, Best Drama); Sweeney Todd (2004 Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director, IRNE Award for Best Director, and Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Musical Production); The Weir (IRNE Award, Best Drama); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead (Elliot Norton Award, Outstanding Director); The Scarlet Letter; American Buffalo; A Moon for the Misbegotten; Twelfth Night; Beast on the Moon; Das Barbecü; Tartuffe; and The Real Thing; among others. Additional credits include the world premiere of Moby Dick: An American Opera, for which he received the Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre by Northern Ohio Live. He is honored to be a two-time recipient of the Elliot Norton Award from the Boston Theatre Critics Association for Outstanding Director. Dick Flavin is a nationally known writer and speaker. He has made thousands of speaking appearances all across America, chiefly addressing groups on the subject of how to use humor as a strategy in business and in life. His television commentaries have appeared on NBC-TV, CNN and WBZ-TV in Boston. He is the winner of seven New England regional Emmy Awards for writing and commentary. He was the narrator of The Teammates, an ESPN documentary that was nominated for three national Emmy Awards. Known as the “Poet Laureate of the Boston Red Sox,” he has written countless poems and song parodies about the team and its history, some of which are being compiled into a compact disc and DVD. The most well-known of them, Teddy at the Bat, a salute to Red Sox legend Ted Williams that is based on Ernest Lawrence Thayer’s immortal Casey at the Bat, has been performed by Mr. Flavin at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, at Fenway Park and in cities and towns across the country. The San Francisco Examiner called it a “showstopper” and a “stunning, bravura bit.” He was the co-host of and contributing writer to Red Sox Stories, a weekly television series that ran during the 2007 baseball season. He has also written and performed special material for the Boston Pops and Symphony orchestras. In addition to According the Tip, his play on the life and times of the late Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, Mr. Flavin has also written I Feel a Song Comin’ On, a soon to be produced musical about the lyricist Dorothy Fields. Theatre: New Repertory Theatre Where: In residence at the Arsenal Center for the Arts 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472 Production: According to Tip Author: Dick Flavin Director: Rick Lombardo Cast: Ken Howard as Tip Designers: Scenic Design, Janie E. Howland Costume Design, Frances Nelson McSherry Lighting Design, Franklin Meissner, Jr. Performing: First performance: Sunday, June 22, 2008 @ 7:30PM Press Opening: Friday, June 27, 2008 @ 8:00pm Runs through: Sunday, July 13, 2008 @ 2:00 pm Performances: Sunday, June 22, 2008 @ 7:30PM Preview (Pay-What-You-Can) Tuesday, June 24, 2008 @ 8:00pm Preview Wednesday, June 25, 2008 @ 8:00pm Preview Thursday, June 26, 2008 @ 8:00pm Preview Friday, June 27, 2008 @ 8:00pm Press Opening Saturday, June 28, 2008 @ 3:30pm Saturday, June 28, 2008 @ 8:00pm Sunday, June 29, 2008 @ 2:00pm Wednesday, July 2, 2008 @ 8:00pm Thursday, July 3, 2008 @ 8:00pm Friday, July 4, 2008 @ 8:00pm Saturday, July 5, 2008 @ 3:30pm Saturday, July 5, 2008 @ 8:00pm Sunday, July 6, 2008 @ 2:00pm Sunday July 6, 2008 @ 7:30pm Wednesday, July 9, 2008 @ 8:00pm Thursday, July 10, 2008 @ 8:00pm Friday, July 11, 2008 @ 8:00pm Saturday, July 12, 2008 @ 3:30pm Saturday, July 12, 2008 @ 8:00pm Sunday, July 13, 2008 @ 2:00 pm Tickets: Full Price: $35-$55. Students: $13 Call: 617-923-8487 or buy online at www.newrep.org. Accessibility: Wheelchair accessible Assisted Listening System Box office with TTY For TTY only, dial 617.923.2067 Large-Print and Braille Programs available Public Transportation: #70 or #70A bus to the School Street stop Parking: Free, six-level parking garage across from the Arsenal Center for the Arts Wednesday, June 4, 2008 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Gloria Steinem – An American Icon Author of and Speaking on: "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions” 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 To register for this event please click here. Gloria Steinem – Biographical Brief As a writer and an activist, Gloria Steinem has been a leader in the late-twentieth-century women`s rights movement. Among her many achievements is the founding of Ms. magazine — the first national women`s magazine run by women. Feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem was active in many liberal causes beginning in the mid-1950s and was the first editor of Ms. magazine. She became a leading spokesperson for the feminist movement and helped shape the debate over women`s enfranchisement. Gloria Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio. Her father was an antique dealer and her mother was a newspaperwoman. She was the granddaughter of the noted suffragette, Pauline Steinem. Given her family`s background, it was not surprising that she became a feminist and a journalist, but it was by no means a straight journey for her. When Steinem was young, she and her family spent summers at their resort in Clark Lake, Michigan, and traveled the country in a dome-topped trailer the remainder of the year as Leo bought and sold antiques from Florida to California. Because the family did not stay in one place long enough for her to enroll in a school, Steinem was tutored by her mother during those years. When she was only 8 years old her parents divorced, leaving Steinem to live the next several years with her mother in bitter poverty. Her mother suffered from depression so severe that she eventually became incapacitated, requiring young Gloria to care for her. At the age of 15 Steinem went to live with her sister, ten years her senior, in Washington, D.C., and from there she entered Smith College. When she graduated from Smith in 1956 (Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude), she won a fellowship to study in India for two years. Steinem`s experience in India broadened her horizons and made her aware of the extent of human suffering in the world. She realized that the high standard of living most Americans take for granted was not available to all. She commented at the time that "America is an enormous frosted cupcake in the middle of millions of starving people." She returned strongly motivated to fight social injustice and embarked on her career as a journalist. In 1960 she moved to New York and began writing freelance articles for popular magazines. She also did some script writing for the popular television show "That Was the Week That Was." One of her first major assignments in investigative journalism was a two-part series for Show magazine on the working conditions of Playboy bunnies. In order to do research for the article, Steinem applied for a job as a Playboy bunny and was hired. She held the position for three weeks in order to do research. The articles that she wrote as a result of her experience exposed the poor working conditions and meager wages of the women who worked long hours in the lavish clubs where rich men spent their leisure time. Years later, in 1970, she published a lengthy interview with Hugh Hefner, founder and editor of Playboy magazine. In that dialogue Steinem debated Hefner on issues such as women`s rights, the "sexual revolution," consumerism, and the "Playboy philosophy." In 1968 Steinem joined the founding staff of New York magazine and became a contributing editor. She established a column, "The City Politic," and wrote in support of causes on the American left. During these years Steinem moved into politics more directly, working for Democratic candidates such as Norman Mailer, John Lindsay, Eugene McCarthy, Robert Kennedy, and later George McGovern. She also worked with César Chávez in his efforts on behalf of the United Farm Workers. Steinem`s feminist concerns were first sparked when she went to a meeting of the Red Stockings, a New York women`s liberation group. Although she went as a journalist with the intention of writing a story about the group, she found herself deeply moved by the stories the women told, particularly of the dangers of illegal abortions. Gloria Steinem`s commitment to the political causes of the New Left provided a natural path into her later career as a feminist leader. During the years she spent establishing herself as a journalist she was deeply involved in the political movements that were stirring thousands of her generation to action. The civil rights movement and the movement against the Vietnam War involved young women as well as men who dedicated themselves to building a future based on racial justice and peace. Out of these movements sprang the rebirth of feminism, which had remained dormant for several decades. Women discovered their organizing skills in the process of participating in the political left during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and by the late 1960s they began mobilizing on their own behalf. The new movement for women`s liberation began at the grass roots level and swelled to mass proportions within a few short years. By the late 1960s Steinem had gained national attention as an outspoken leader of the women`s liberation movement, which continued to grow and gain strength. In 1971 she joined Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm, and Betty Friedan to form the National Women`s Political Caucus, encouraging women`s participation in the 1972 election. Steinem herself was active in the National Democratic Party Convention in Miami that year, fighting for an abortion plank in the party platform and challenging the seating of delegations that included mostly white males. Those efforts drew attention to the issue of under representation of women in politics and the centrality of political issues for women`s lives. In that same year of 1972 Steinem, as part of the Women`s Action Alliance, gained funding for the first mass circulation feminist magazine, Ms. The preview issue sold out, and within five years Ms. had a circulation of 500,000. As editor of the magazine Steinem gained national attention as a feminist leader and became an influential spokesperson for women`s rights issues. Steinem`s editorship of Ms. did not prevent her from continuing her active political life. In 1975 she helped plan the women`s agenda for the Democratic National Convention, and she continued to exert pressure on liberal politicians on behalf of women`s concerns. In 1977 Steinem participated in the National Conference of Women in Houston, Texas. The conference was the first of its kind and served to publicize the number of feminist issues and draw attention to women`s rights leaders. Steinem continued to speak and write extensively. In 1983 she published her first book, "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions." The book included her recollections of the past, such as her experience as a Playboy bunny, and also highlighted the lives of other notable 20th-century women. In 1986 she published "Marilyn: Norma Jean", a sympathetic biography of the unhappy life of the film star whom she knew personally. In her books Steinem argued for the causes that occupied her energies for two decades. She continued to call for an end to women`s disadvantaged condition in the paid labor force, for the elimination of sexual exploitation, and for the achievement of true equality of the sexes. "Revolution From Within: A Book of Self-Esteem" was published in 1992, in which Steinem attempted to provide "... a portable friend. It`s self-help and inspiration, with examples of what some people have done and a glimpse of the extraordinary potential of the unexplored powers of the brain and how much our ideas of reality become reality." In 1994, Steinem published another book, "Moving Beyond Words," wherein her views on publishing, society and advertising were expressed. Around 1989 Ms. magazine was purchased by owners who didn`t have the kind of commitment that Steinem and her colleagues envisioned for their creation. After years of trying, in 1999 they managed to find backers to buy the magazine back. Steinem found investors among women of diverse backgrounds and ages who had some capital and wanted to have a hand in women`s activism. This created an exciting new environment for the magazine. Steinem was inducted into the Women`s Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1998, she was inducted into the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame along with Hugh Hefner of Playboy and Byron Dobell, former editor of American Heritage, Esquire, Life, and New York. On September 3, 2000, she married David Bale. Thursday, May 8, 2008 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Peter Gammons, Maureen Mullen & Johnny Pesky Speaking on: "Diary of a Red Sox Season: 2007" 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 Event Sponsor: Peter Gammons Peter Gammons is an American sportswriter, media personality and National Baseball Hall of Fame honoree. Gammons attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He worked for the university`s student-run newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel. After graduating in 1969, he began his journalism career at The Boston Globe. Gammons was a featured writer at The Boston Globe for many years as the main journalist covering the Boston Red Sox. (1969-1976, 1978-1986), or as a national baseball columnist. Between his two stints as a baseball columnist with the Globe, he was lead baseball columnist Peter Gammons for Sports Illustrated (1976-78, 1986-90), where he covered baseball, hockey, and college basketball. Since 1988, he has worked at ESPN, primarily as an in-studio analyst. During the baseball season, he appears nightly on Baseball Tonight and has regular spots on SportsCenter, ESPNEWS and ESPN Radio. He writes an Insider column for ESPN.com and also writes for ESPN The Magazine. The Globe reprinted some of his ESPN columns well into the 1990s. In 2006, Gammons was named as one of two field-level reporters for ESPN`s Sunday Night Baseball, joining Bonnie Bernstein. Gammons is regarded as one of the top reporters in sports and is known for his high-profile interviews and his network of sources which allow him to report on major events (such as trades) days before they are official. His knowledge has earned him the nickname "The Commissioner.” He is regularly interviewed on radio and television programs. Gammons has also authored numerous baseball books, including Beyond the Sixth Game. He was voted the National Sportswriter of the Year in 1990, 1991 and 1993. He has also been awarded an honorary Pointer Fellow from Yale University. In 2004, Gammons was selected as the 56th recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the BBWAA, and was honored at the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 31, 2005. Raised in Groton, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Groton School. He lives in Boston and Cape Cod with his wife Gloria. On June 27, 2006, Gammons was stricken with the rupture of a brain aneurysm in the morning near his home on Cape Cod, Mass., and was initially taken to Falmouth Hospital before being airlifted to Brigham and Women`s Hospital in Boston to undergo surgery. On July 17, he was released from the hospital. On August 19th, Peter made his first public appearance since the aneurysm rupture at Fenway Park when the Red Sox played the Yankees. Peter returned to ESPN on Wednesday, September 20, 2006. He reported from Fenway Park on the 6 P.M. edition of Sportscenter and the 7 P.M. edition of Baseball Tonight. Gammons has resumed his regular reporting coverage during the 2007 baseball season. Gammons is also a noted fan of indie rock and the blues, and is active in the Boston indie rock scene when his other commitments allow him the time; he has been sighted at several Midnight Oil shows, and has mentioned the band in several columns. He is also a fan of Pearl Jam, as he has talked about experiences at concerts as well as previous albums (as heard on various ESPN Radio shows.) With the assistance of a band of Boston musicians and Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein, Gammons plays a Fender Stratocaster and sings at the annual Hot Stove, Cool Music concert event to benefit Theo and Paul Epstein`s Foundation To Be Named Later, a charity that raises funds and awareness for non-profit agencies serving disadvantaged youth in the Greater Boston area. Gammons debut album, Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old, was released on July 4, 2006. Gammons sang and played guitar on this collection of originals and covers that includes The Clash`s Death or Glory and Warren Zevon`s Model Citizen. Proceeds again went to Epstein`s charity. Maureen Mullen Maureen Mullen, co-author with Johnny Pesky of “Diary of a Red Sox Season: 2007”, is a prolific writer, whose work appears in such newspapers as the Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, the Hall of Fame Magazine, and she’s a regular contributor to MLB.com. Here’s is one of Ms. Mullen’s recent article for MLB.com (it ran on RedSox.com); Ortiz mourns soldier lost in Iraq FORT MYERS, Florida – We`re all going to get them. It`s not a matter of if -- just a matter of when. Those phone calls, the bits of news that strike from nowhere, turning a perfectly average day into an exceedingly miserable one. They may be a part of life, but that doesn`t make them any easier to take. On Tuesday morning, Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz got one of those messages. A young soldier he met last summer at Fenway Park was killed last week in Iraq. Sitting at his locker in the clubhouse of City of Palms Park after the morning workout, Ortiz called a reporter over. "I have a story for you," Ortiz said. With that he told the story of meeting Spc. Justin Rollins. Within minutes, this mountain of a man -- the one with the megawatt smile, whose booming voice precedes him into any room -- was reduced to tears. Rollins, 22, of Newport, N.H., was killed with five other soldiers on March 5 in Samarra, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near their unit during combat operations. They were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. "He was such a good kid," Ortiz said. "He came to Fenway to watch a game, and he wanted to meet me. It was going to be his last game at Fenway because he was going to Iraq. He came by the clubhouse, and I talked to him for a while. He just seemed like he was so full of life." So impressed was he by Rollins, Ortiz promised to hit a home run for the young soldier. Ortiz kept that pledge, and for added measure, it was one of his patented walk-off numbers, in the 10th inning against the Phillies on June 24. "I told him at the time that that home run I was going to dedicate to him for going to Iraq," Ortiz said. "And just today I received a message from his family." Clubhouse attendant Jared Pinkos had the unenviable task of delivering the news. "He came in jovial, typical Ortiz, laughing," Pinkos said. "But this just knocked him out. He started shaking." Asked to send something for the funeral, scheduled for Saturday in Newport, with burial on Monday in Arlington National Cemetery, Ortiz has dispatched a white No. 34 uniform jersey, with the inscription, "My deepest condolences to the Rollins family. It was an honor to meet Justin and I will keep him in my prayers. Sincerely, David Ortiz." He is also sending a ball, to be placed in Rollins` casket, on which he wrote: "To Justin Rollins, Rest in peace. God bless, David Ortiz," and another with his autograph as a memento for the Rollins family. "It`s just so sad," he said. "He`s a young kid, full of life. Unbelievable, you know. It`s just sad." Ortiz paused, turned away and grabbed a T-shirt from his locker, wiping the tears from his eyes. Though it was the first time Ortiz had received a call informing him of the death of a soldier who was also a fan, he is no stranger to the pain of that kind of news. His mother, Angela Rosa Arias, died in a car accident on Jan. 1, 2002, at the age of 46. Her birthday was last week. He also has a friend coping with the loss of his own mother two days ago. The memories brought on by his mother`s birthday, his friend`s loss and, now, the news of Rollins` death have all hit him very hard, he said. "It just got me," he said. "I think of the pain coming from his family." "I can`t believe he remembered Justin," said Rollins` girlfriend, Brittney Murray. "Well, I can believe it because Justin left such an impression on people. But I know that Justin would be very excited right now. I remember him saying that home run just made him so happy, especially since it was dedicated to him." Rollins was to have come home on leave in April, on his wish list a trip to Fenway with Murray, who has never been to the fabled park. "That was one thing he said -- `We have to go to a Red Sox game. I really want to take you to Fenway.` That was one of his priorities for his leave," Murray said. "He loved baseball, and he loved the Red Sox. He told me his favorite place in the world was Fenway. It meant a lot to him." At his funeral service, Rollins will posthumously be awarded the Army Service Ribbon, the Iraq Campaign Medal Ribbon, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal Ribbon, the National Defense Medal Ribbon, the Army Overseas Service Ribbon, the Army Good Conduct Medal Ribbon, two Purple Heart Medal Ribbons and the Bronze Star with Valor. "It`s gong to be a long road," Murray said. "But he lived very passionately, and he passed that on to me. I`m glad to have known him. He believed in what he was doing, and he died doing what he loved." Donations may be made to the Justin A. Rollins Memorial Scholarship Fund, payable to the Newport School District, c/o Diane Fisher, 245 North Main St., Newport, N.H. 03773. Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich, September 27, 1919 in Portland, Oregon), nicknamed "The Needle," is a former Major League Baseball shortstop/third baseman who played in the American League from 1942 to 1954. He missed all of the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons while serving in World War II. Johnny Pesky`s biography is Mr. Red Sox by Bill Nowlin, published by Rounder Books. Pesky has been associated with the Boston Red Sox for 56 of his 68 years in baseball – from 1940 through June 3, 1952; 1961 through 1964; and continuously since 1969. He was their manager in 1963-1964, and in September 1980. Pesky played seven-and-a-half seasons for the Red Sox and was selected to the All-Star game in 1946. An unselfish player, he moved from shortstop to third base in 1948 to make room for slugging shortstop Vern Stephens and was Boston`s regular at the hot corner until 1952 when he was traded on June 3 in a multi-player transaction to the Detroit Tigers. Almost two years later in 1954, he was again traded mid-season, this time to the Washington Senators, and was released at season`s end. A left-handed hitter who threw right-handed, Pesky was a tough man for pitchers to strike out. As a hitter, he specialized in getting on base, leading the American League in base hits three times - his first three seasons in the majors, in which he collected over 200 hits each year - and was among the top ten in on-base percentage six times while batting .307 in 1,270 games over ten seasons (1942; 1946-54). He was also an excellent bunter who led the league in sacrifice hits in 1942. He was a teammate and close friend of Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr and Dom DiMaggio. Their friendship was chronicled in David Halberstam`s book The Teammates. Pesky also has a feature of Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox, named after him. The foul pole in right field is also known as Pesky`s Pole, named in honor of the former Red Sox shortstop by former teammate and Sox broadcaster Mel Parnell. The story goes that Pesky won a game for Parnell in 1948 with a home run down the short (302 feet/92m) right field line, just around the pole. Being that Pesky was a contact hitter who hit only 17 home runs -- six of them at Fenway Park -- in 4,745 at bats in the major leagues, it`s quite possible that the home runs he hit there landed in close proximity to the pole. Research, however, shows that Pesky hit just one home run in a game pitched by Parnell, a two-run shot in the first inning of a game against Detroit played on June 11, 1950. The game was eventually won by the visiting Tigers in the 14th inning on a three-run shot by Tigers right fielder Vic Wertz and Parnell earned a no-decision that day. Although he is an icon as "Mr. Red Sox," Pesky actually began his coaching career in the New York Yankees organization with the 1955 Denver Bears of the AAA American Association — working under manager Ralph Houk. From 1956-60, Pesky was a manager in the Detroit farm system, reaching the AA level. He then rejoined the Red Sox in 1961 as manager of their AAA farm club, the Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League. Pesky enjoyed two winning seasons in Seattle. At the close of the 1962 campaign, Boston owner TomYawkey elevated manager Pinky Higgins to the club`s vacant post of general manager and personally appointed Pesky as Higgins` replacement. Although the selection of Pesky was a popular choice, the Red Sox were a second division team and notorious as a "country club" — a group of unmotivated players who did what they wanted, when they wanted. In addition, Higgins and Pesky were not particularly close, and the general manager would be accused of undermining Yawkey`s hand-picked skipper. A major off-season trade added slugging first baseman Dick Stuart to Pesky`s maiden roster, and whileStuart would lead the American League with 118 runs batted in during `63, he was an atrocious fielder (nicknamed "Dr. Strangeglove") who would constantly defy Pesky`s authority and make it difficult for him to control his players. Pesky`s `63 club started quickly and briefly had pennant hopes, but lack of pitching soon doomed it to a second-division finish — 76-85, bad enough for seventh place. The 1964 Sox also languished deep in the nether regions of the AL, winning only 70 of the 160 games Pesky managed. With two games left in the season, he was replaced as manager by Billy Herman, the club`s third-base coach and a friend of Higgins`. Pesky then left the Red Sox for four seasons, and joined the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. From 1965-67, he served as first-base coach for Pirate manager Harry Walker. There was rich irony in the fact that it was Walker who hit the double that scored Enos Slaughter with the winning run in the eighth inning of Game 7 of the 1946 World Series — the play on which Pesky was accused (wrongly, in many eyes) of "holding the ball" on a relay from the outfield, allegedly hesitating as Slaughter raced home from first base. After Walker`s firing in 1967, Pesky managed the Bucs` AAA farm club, the Columbus Jets of the International League, to a second-place finish in 1968. In 1969, he returned to the Red Sox organization, although he was miscast as a color commentator on the Sox` radio and television announcing crew. He worked with Ken Coleman and Ned Martin on Boston`s WHDH Radio and TV from 1969-71, then strictly on television with Coleman on WBZ-TV from 1972-74. He later served as analyst for selected games on radio with Joe Castiglione calling play-by-play. In 1975, Pesky finally returned to uniform as a fulltime coach under manager Darrell Johnson. As in Pittsburgh, he worked at first base and, in his first season back on the field, the Sox won the 1975 AL East title, swept three-time world champion Oakland in the ALCS, and battled the Cincinnati Reds in a thrilling, seven-game World Series. Pesky remained first-base coach under Johnson and his successor, Don Zimmer, before moving to a bench and batting coach role for Zimmer in 1980. The Red Sox had been contenders for most of the late 1970s, but in 1980 they stumbled to fourth place in the AL East, resulting in Zimmer`s dismissal with five games left in the season. Pesky took command as interim pilot, and Boston lost four of five, to finish Pesky`s career managing record at 147-179 (.451). The following season, his old friend Houk became Boston`s manager, and Pesky resumed his role as the club`s batting and bench coach. He was especially valued by Sox slugger Jim Rice, with whom Pesky worked tirelessly. Pesky missed the entire 1983 season with a serious food allergy that caused severe weight loss, but once the source of the illness was discovered, he was able to return for a final season as a fulltime coach in 1984. In 1990, nearing age 71, he spent almost 2½ months as interim manager of Boston`s top farm club, the Pawtucket Red Sox, when the team`s skipper, Ed Nottle, was fired in June. But since 1985 he has been a special instructor and assistant to the general manager, suiting up before games to work with players. Intermittently, Pesky has since been allowed to sit on the Red Sox bench during games, but three times has been prevented from the task — once by his own general manager, Dan Duquette, a second time when the Baltimore Orioles complained to MLB, and a third time in March 2007, when Major League Baseball announced it would enforce limitations that only six coaches could be in uniform during a game. Pesky, as an instructor, was ineligible. On April 3, 2007, the North Shore Spirit, a now-defunct team in the Independent Can-Am League, invited Pesky to sit in their dugout – and serve as an honorary coach – anytime he wanted. Pesky attended the 2004 World Series and, after the Game 4 triumph, was embraced by current Boston players such as Tim Wakefield and Curt Schilling as a living representative of star Red Sox players of the past whose teams fell short of winning the Fall Classic. He played a poignant and prominent role in the ceremony in which the World Series Championship Rings were handed out (April 11, 2005). With the help of Carl Yastrzemski, he raised the 2004 World Series Championship banner up the Fenway Park center field flagpole. On his 87th birthday, September 27, 2006, the Red Sox honored Pesky by officially naming the right-field foul pole "Pesky`s Pole." There have also been persistent rumors that the club will retire the number 6 Pesky wore as a player, even though he does not meet the stated requirements — chiefly, membership in the Baseball Hall of Fame — for such an honor. (Although he still suits up in No. 6, Pesky wore 22 as the team`s manager in the 1960s, and 35 as a coach from 1975-80.) A longtime resident of Boston`s North Shore, Pesky is a visible member of the community, making personal appearances for the Red Sox. For years, he has been a commercial spokesman on television and radio for a local supplier of doors and windows. The commercials are deliberately and humorously corny, with Pesky and the company`s owner calling themselves "the Window Boys." Friday, April 18, 2008 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series, UMass Lowell, and the Boston Red Sox Present in the Public Interest: Continuing the Conversation: Baseball & Blacks in America Featuring: David Burnes, Red Sox great Tommy Harper, Luke Salisbury, and Dr. Sharon Freeman, author of “African Americans: Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities” Panel Moderated by Dr. Jeffrey Gerson – Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, UMass Lowell With Dick Flavin, Baseball`s Poet Laureate, Presiding 12-Noon Brown Bag Luncheon $15 Per Person ($5 for UMass Lowell Students) Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) To register for this event please contact Dan Lyons of the Red Sox Dr. Sharon T. Freeman – Biographical Brief Dr. Freeman is the Director of the Washington, DC Government`s International Business Development Office at the DC Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of the DC Chamber`s International Committee. She is an advisor to the Secretary of Commerce and the U.S. Trade Representative on Small and Minority Business (since 1991) and is a member of the National Press Club`s Forums Committee. She is the winner of the DC Chamber`s Crystal Monument Entrepreneurship Award (2002) and Carnegie-Mellon University`s alumni award for Entrepreneurial Excellence (2001). She holds a Ph.D. in Applied Management and Decision Sciences from Walden University, a Master of Science from Carnegie-Mellon in management, and two undergraduate degrees in Cognitive Psychology and History from Carnegie-Mellon University. She is the author of six books; four of which have been self-published through AASBEA, and two that have been authored on behalf of U.S. Government agencies on the subjects of exporting and e-commerce. For more information, see www.aasbea.com. Dr. Freeman is also the author of many articles on business development, which have been published in various trade magazines and translated into French and Spanish. Tommy Harper – Biographical Brief Blending speed and power, Harper became only the fifth member of the "30-30 Club," hitting 31 HR and stealing 38 bases for the 1970 Brewers. As a young, highly touted outfielder with the Reds in 1965, he hit 18 homers and led the NL with 126 runs scored. After a disappointing 1967 season (.217), he was traded to Cleveland, where he continued to slump in a platoon role. Rescued by the Seattle Pilots in the 1968 expansion draft, he led the ML with 73 stolen bases in 1969, the highest AL total since Ty Cobb`s 96 in 1915. Although he preferred the outfield, Harper played mostly at third base (and 82 games at second base) for the Pilots and Brewers. Traded to Boston before the 1972 season, he returned to the outfield. In 1973 he was the Red Sox` MVP, hitting 17 HR, scoring 71 runs, and stealing an AL-high 54 bases. (JCA) Ron Shapiro ©2007 Photo by Luigi Ciuffetelli Friday, April 11, 2008 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Ron Shapiro – One of Sports’ Most Respected Agents Author of and Speaking on: “Dare to Prepare: How to Win Before You Begin” 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 To register for this event please click here. Ron Shapiro– Biographical Brief Expert negotiator, sports agent, attorney, educator, author, and Baltimore civic leader, Ron Shapiro started his baseball career at Fenway Park. For a brief period of time during the summer of 1965, Ron worked on the grounds crew and assisted with the operations of the Fenway Press Room. He has maintained strong ties within the Red Sox Organization throughout the years. He attended Haverford College and graduated Cum Laude from Harvard Law School in 1967. After moving to Baltimore in 1967 for a federal clerkship, he began teaching law school in 1968. From 1972 to 1974 Mr. Shapiro served as Maryland State Securities Commissioner and earned a reputation as one of the most effective state investment officials in the nation. In 1972 he founded what is now known as Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler, a prominent Baltimore law firm. Subsequently, in 1976 Mr. Shapiro founded Shapiro, Robinson & Associates, a sports management firm that developed a national reputation through its holistic approach to contract negotiation, sound financial management, and commitment to community involvement on the part of its clients. In 1995 he founded Shapiro Negotiations Institute, a negotiation seminar and consulting firm that has trained over 350,000 professionals in the art of negotiation, dealing with difficult personalities, and enhancing preparation & listening skills. USA Today called Ron Shapiro “one of baseball’s most respected agent-attorneys,” and The Sporting News named him one of the “100 most powerful people in sports.” His impressive list of clients includes more Hall of Famers than any other agent, including Cal Ripken, Jr., Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Kirby Puckett, and Eddie Murray, who have benefited from the more than one billion dollars in contracts that Mr. Shapiro has negotiated. In addition, Mr. Shapiro is the Special Advisor to the Owner of the Baltimore Ravens. In October 1998, Mr. Shapiro’s book, "THE POWER OF NICE: How to Negotiate So Everyone Wins – Especially You!" (Revised Edition, 2001) was published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. "THE POWER OF NICE" was excerpted in Fortune Magazine and named one of the “Top Ten ‘On the Job’ Business Books of the Year” by the Library Journal. Mr. Shapiro’s second book, "BULLIES, TYRANTS & IMPOSSIBLE PEOPLE: How To Beat Them Without Joining Them," was released by Crown Books (Random House) in June 2005 and made The Wall Street Journal’s Best Seller List in its first week of publication. "DARE TO PREPARE: How To Win Before You Begin!" is being published by Crown Business imprint of Random House in January 2008. Mr. Shapiro also authored more than 20 law journal articles; co-authored books on corporate and securities law; founded Maryland’s major bar review course; and began a legal publishing company. He taught at the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland School of Law, and the University of Baltimore School of Law where he was honored for teaching excellence. Mr. Shapiro was named the 1996 Edward B. Shils Lecturer in Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. A charismatic and creative individual, Ron Shapiro appeared as a negotiations expert on ABC`s "Good Morning America," CNBC`s "Power Lunch," Mutual Radio`s "The Larry King Show," National Public Radio`s "Morning Edition," ABC`s Nightline," and ESPN`s "Up Close." Mr. Shapiro also appeared as a panelist on “Square Off” on CBS’s Baltimore affiliate. In addition, he has hosted a weekly talk show, “Front Page,” and "Special Edition," a series of prime time specials, both on NBC Baltimore affiliates. Committed to public and civic matters, Mr. Shapiro has chaired over 25 boards of charitable and community organizations, including Peace Players International, the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center, Partnership for Homecoming Campaign, the University of Maryland Cancer Center Advisory Board, and the Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust, as well as serving on numerous others. He was also Treasurer and Finance Chairman for former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke. Mr. Shapiro has received numerous special honors and recognition including Chimes Hall of Fame for contributions and community service, American Sportscasters Association Hall of Fame Mel Allen Service Award for distinguished public service, Cheltenham High School Hall of Fame in recognition of outstanding personal and career achievements, Maryland Marketing Statesman of the Year, the City of Baltimore Citizen Citation for assistance and special contributions to the public schools and the citizens of Baltimore, and the Children’s Guild award for “Making the Impossible – Possible.” The Ronald M. Shapiro Research Award and Lecture was established in recognition of his service at the Greenebaum Cancer Center of the University of Maryland. In June 2003, Villa Julie College awarded Mr. Shapiro the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree, and in 2004 he was presented with The Forman Award, as a superior Haverford College Athlete who has devoted himself to the betterment of society. SmartCEO Magazine recognized Mr. Shapiro as one of the “Twenty Most Admired Leaders ” in May 2006. In 2007 he was named one of Maryland’s Super Lawyers. Mr. Shapiro’s dispute resolution techniques have settled a major symphony orchestra strike, facilitated solutions to human relations problems, and resolved disputes in governmental, corporate, and major biotechnology challenges. Mr. Shapiro has negotiated on behalf of, or served as deal coach to, Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, as well as entertainment and news personalities. Ron Shapiro is frequently cited by parties representing each side in a negotiation as the ultimate "Win-Win" negotiator. Friday, February 1, 2008 The Boston Red Sox, The Great Fenway Park Writers Series, and the BoSox Club Proudly Present: The Red Sox’s Annual Birthday Tribute to Jackie Robinson Featuring: Bill Russell, Charles Ogletree, Steve Jacobson, Elaine Weddington Steward & Faye Fields with Don Orsillo as Master of Ceremonies Reception & Program 5:30 PM EMC Club (enter at 20 Yawkey Way) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 To register for this event please click here. Biographical Briefs Bill Russell Bill Russell was the cornerstone of the Boston Celtics` dynasty of the 1960s, an uncanny shotblocker who revolutionized NBA defensive concepts. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player and a 12-time All-Star, the angular center amassed 21,620 career rebounds, an average of 22.5 per game and led the league in rebounding four times. He had 51 boards in one game, 49 in two others and a dozen consecutive seasons of 1,000 or more rebounds. His many individual accolades were well deserved, but they were only products of Russell`s philosophy of team play. His greatest accomplishment was bringing the storied Celtics 11 championships in his 13 seasons. Until the ascent of Michael Jordan in the 1980s, Russell was acclaimed by many as the greatest player in the history of the NBA. William Felton Russell was born on February 12, 1934, in Monroe, Louisiana. His family moved cross-country to the San Francisco Bay Area, where Bill attended McClymonds High School in Oakland. He was an awkward, unremarkable center on McClymonds`s basketball team, but his size earned him a scholarship to play at the University of San Francisco, where he blossomed. Russell grew to be a shade over 6-9, and he teamed with guard K. C. Jones to lead the Dons to 56 consecutive victories and NCAA Championships in 1955 and 1956 (although Jones missed four games of the 1956 tournament because his eligibility had expired). Russell was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player in 1955. Russell averaged 20.7 points and 20.3 rebounds in his three-year varsity career. By his senior season he had matured into a dominant force who could control a game at the defensive end. With the 1956 NBA Draft approaching, Boston Celtics Coach and General Manager Red Auerbach was eager to add Russell to his lineup. Auerbach had built a high-scoring offensive machine around guards Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman and undersized center Ed Macauley, but he hadn`t been able to muster the defense and rebounding needed to transform the Celtics into a championship-caliber club. Russell, Auerbach felt, was the missing piece to the puzzle. However, because of their second-place finish the year before, the Celtics would be picking too late in the draft to get Russell. And because Auerbach wanted to use a territorial selection to nab Holy Cross star Tom Heinsohn, Boston would forfeit its first-round pick altogether. So Auerbach began to think trade, and he set his sights on the St. Louis Hawks, who owned the second overall pick in the draft. The first pick belonged to the Rochester Royals, but that team already had a promising young rebounder in Maurice Stokes, and Auerbach knew that Royals owner Les Harrison was not going to pay Russell the $25,000 signing bonus he was asking for. Rochester selected guard Sihugo Green, who played nine seasons in the league with five different teams (including, ironically, the Celtics in 1965-66). St. Louis owner Ben Kerner was willing to talk trade, and the key was Macauley. The 6-8 center was a six-time All-Star at that point and a local hero in St. Louis, where he had grown up and then starred for St. Louis University. Auerbach could afford to give up Macauley if he was getting Russell, but it was not until Boston agreed to add rookie Cliff Hagan to the mix that Kerner consented to the trade. The deal brought the Hawks a championship in 1958, but it brought the Celtics a dynasty. In that same draft, Boston added Heinsohn, who would be NBA Rookie of the Year for 1956-57, and K. C. Jones, Russell`s college teammate who would also become a stalwart of the Boston juggernaut. Russell didn`t join the Celtics until December because he was a member of the 1956 U.S. Olympic basketball team, which won a gold medal at the Melbourne Games in November. The Celtics had bolted to a 13-3 start, and when Russell arrived he adapted quickly. Playing in 48 games, he pulled down 19.6 rpg, the best average in the league, while scoring 14.7 ppg. Boston`s starting five of Russell, Heinsohn, Bob Cousy, Bill Sharman, and Jim Loscutoff was a high-octane unit. They posted the best regular-season record in the NBA in 1956-57, waltzed through the playoffs, and were heavily favored in the Finals against Bob Pettit`s St. Louis Hawks. The teams traded victories until the series came down to a dramatic Game 7 in Boston. Tom Heinsohn scored 37 points for Boston, but the Celtics couldn`t pull away. Last-second scores by the Hawks sent the game into overtime and then into a second extra period. The Celtics finally prevailed, 125-123, for their first NBA Championship. In only part of a season Russell had added a new element to the Celtics and to professional basketball. For the previous few years, the Celtics had been an unstoppable offensive machine led by 20-point scorers Cousy and Sharman, both future Hall of Famers. But Boston had lacked the rebounding and defense to win it all. Now Russell brought a new level of defensive artistry, intimidating opponents with blocked shots and proving that it didn`t take a scorer to dominate a game. Energized by their championship, the Celtics won 14 straight games to start the 1957-58 season, and they kept rolling. In his first full season in the NBA, Russell took command and led the league with 22.7 rpg. Early in the season, against the Philadelphia Warriors, he set an NBA record for rebounds in a half by grabbing 32 and wound up with 49 for the contest. Although he was tough and durable, the slender Russell was not a muscleman or a big banger. His rebounding prowess derived from positioning, anticipating where the shot would come off of the rim and moving quickly to the ball. His game was as much analytical and mental as it was physical. Boston posted the league`s best regular-season record that year, finishing atop the Eastern Division at 49-23. The Celtics then returned to the NBA Finals for a rematch with the Hawks, who had won the West with a 41-31 mark. The teams split the first two games at Boston Garden, but when Russell went down with an ankle injury in Game 3, the Celtics` fortunes plummeted. With Russell ineffective the rest of the way, St. Louis won that game and two of the next three to take the series. Russell was voted the NBA Most Valuable Player for 1957-58. Oddly enough, he was only named to the All-NBA Second Team. In fact, during the five years that Russell was voted league MVP, only twice did he make the All-NBA First Team. The argument was that, while other centers were better than Russell -- that is, they had more conventional skills -- no player meant more to his team. Russell repeated as the NBA rebounding leader in 1958-59, grabbing 23.0 per game, the first of seven consecutive campaigns in which he averaged at least 23 boards. Russell was also known for extending his effort at critical moments, both within a game and within a season. Consequently, he typically improved his rebounding numbers during the playoffs, and in the 1959 postseason he pulled down 27.7 boards per game. The Celtics reached the NBA Finals for a third straight season and regained the crown with a four-game sweep of the Minneapolis Lakers. Russell set a Finals record with 29.5 rpg in the series, and he helped launch the greatest championship run in the history of professional sports. Boston`s 1959 title began an unprecedented and unequaled string of eight consecutive NBA Championships. Interestingly, although Russell was not considered a skilled offensive player, he was a selective shooter and in his early years ranked regularly among the NBA`s top five in field-goal percentage. In 1958-59, for example, his .457 mark was second in the league. Russell`s greatest adversary, Wilt Chamberlain, entered the NBA and joined the Philadelphia Warriors for the 1959-60 season, setting up a decade-long rivalry. The debate over who was the greater player would last even longer. Chamberlain put up incredible numbers during the period in which the two went head to head, but Russell helped the Celtics hang nine NBA championship flags in the Garden in his first 10 seasons. As Celtics player Don Nelson told the Boston Herald, "There are two types of superstars. One makes himself look good at the expense of the other guys on the floor. But there`s another type who makes the players around him look better than they are, and that`s the type Russell was." Chamberlain led the league in scoring (37.6 ppg) in his first season, and he took the rebounding crown from Russell, 27.0 to 24.0 rpg. The Celtics` center had one monstrous game, however, when he pulled down 51 rebounds against the Syracuse Nationals in the 1959-1960 season. It ranks as the second-best rebounding effort in NBA history, behind Chamberlain`s 55 against the Celtics on the next season. What became clear, both during the 1959-60 season and over the next several years, was that basketball was a team game. As Russell later wrote: "To me, one of the most beautiful things to see is a group of men coordinating their efforts toward a common goal, alternately subordinating and asserting themselves to achieve real teamwork in action. I tried to do that, we all tried to do that, on the Celtics. I think we succeeded." Chamberlain was great, but the Celtics were better. They improved their regular-season record to 59-16 in 1959-60, at one point running off 17 straight victories. They eliminated Chamberlain and the Warriors in the division finals, then met St. Louis again in the 1960 NBA Finals. Russell stepped up his play in the title series, setting an NBA Finals record with 40 rebounds in Game 2 (surpassed by Chamberlain with 41in 1967) . The Hawks extended the series to seven games, but Russell dominated Game 7, contributing 22 points and 35 rebounds as the Celtics won, 122-103, and notched their second consecutive championship. While Russell was changing the way the NBA viewed defense, the league still appeared to be in an era of runaway offense, with Chamberlain leading the way. Even the defense-oriented Celtics averaged 124.5 points. Russell`s impact on the game can`t really be tracked through NBA statistics. Blocked shots were not an official statistic until 1973-74, and the league only recorded total rebounds, without distinguishing between offensive and defensive boards until that same season. Russell was revolutionizing the game in ways that were clearly understood, even if they weren`t measured. His ability to leave his man and slide over to cover an opponent driving to the hoop was startling. He was unmatched at swooping across the lane like a big bird to block and alter shots. The rest of the Celtics defenders began to funnel their men toward Russell and become more daring with their perimeter defense, knowing that he was looming behind. All of this played mind games with opposing shooters near the basket and had a disrupting effect as they began to sense Russell`s imposing presence. Furthermore, other centers started to model their own defensive play after Russell`s, and while they might not have been as skillful at it, it changed the way the game was played. Interestingly, Russell`s style of play also rejuvenated Boston`s offense. Many of the Celtics` points now came when Russell plucked a defensive rebound and fired an outlet pass to Bob Cousy, who would start Boston`s vaunted and deadly fast break. The dynasty was beginning to establish itself under Red Auerbach, and "Boston Celtics" and "NBA champions" became practically synonymous as the decade progressed. The team was multitalented, with many great players, but the enduring image was that of Russell, his head thrust forward from the slight hunch of his shoulders, his eyes scanning the court, his long left arm snaking out to deflect a shot. Boston won the title again in 1960-61, and Russell was named NBA Most Valuable Player, the first of his three consecutive MVP Awards. The next season, 1961-62, saw Russell register an 18.9 scoring average, his career high. Chamberlain`s individual accomplishments were mind-boggling: he won the scoring title by averaging 50.4 points, while the team-oriented Celtics didn`t place anybody in the top 10. The NBA players, voting for MVP, chose Russell over Chamberlain. The Celtics added another future Hall of Famer, John Havlicek, in the 1962 NBA Draft and lost Bob Cousy to retirement at the end of the 1962-63 season. In what had become an annual routine, Boston won its fifth consecutive NBA title in 1963, and Russell claimed his third consecutive MVP Award. The legendary center later called the 1963-64 Celtics team the best of his era. Although it was merely competent on offense, he felt it was the best defensive unit ever. Russell once again led the league in rebounding, with 24.7 rpg, his all-time high. The Celtics, rolling inexorably, topped the San Francisco Warriors in the Finals in five games, taking their sixth consecutive title, something no team in any sport at the major league level had accomplished before. It was an era of such sustained achievement, for Russell and for the team, that even spectacular accomplishments seemed almost routine. Russell repeated as NBA rebounding leader in 1964-65, collecting 24.1 rpg, including a 49-rebound game against the Detroit Pistons that season. He also ranked fifth in the league in assists with 5.3 per game. The season`s most dramatic moments came in Game 7 of the Eastern Division Finals, when the Celtics led, 110-109, with five seconds remaining against Chamberlain and the Philadelphia 76ers. Russell`s inbounds pass hit a wire supporting the basket, giving the Sixers the ball with no time elapsed on the clock. Philadelphia`s Hal Greer inbounded to Chet Walker, but Havlicek stole the ball to seal the victory. That moment as called by famed Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most is an NBA treasure. In his gravelly voice Most screamed, "Havlicek steals it. Over to Sam Jones. Havlicek stole the ball! It`s all over! Johnny Havlicek stole the ball!" The NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers was almost anticlimactic, as the Celtics claimed the championship in five games. For his play that season, Russell won his fifth and final NBA Most Valuable Player Award. Following another NBA Championship in 1965-66, Red Auerbach retired, and Russell took over as player-coach the following season, becoming the first African-American coach in the league. He led Boston to a 60-21 regular-season record, but the Celtics finally had their string of championships snapped when they lost to a powerful Philadelphia 76ers team in the Eastern Division Finals. The Sixers went 68-13 in the regular season and is considered one of the league`s best ever, trounced the Celtics in five games to advance to the NBA Finals. After that one-year hiatus, Boston returned to form in 1967-68, recapturing the championship under Russell`s direction. In the Eastern Division Finals, the club came back from a two-game deficit to force a seventh game with Chamberlain and the 76ers. The Celtics were leading, 97-95, with 34 seconds left when Russell took over. He sank a foul shot, blocked a shot by Walker, grabbed a rebound off a Greer miss, and fed the ball to Sam Jones, who made the final basket in a 100-96 triumph. Boston then beat Los Angeles in six games in the NBA Finals. The 1968-69 season was even more gratifying. The aging Celtics barely made it into the playoffs with a 48-34 record, then caught fire in the postseason. In Russell`s third year as player-coach, Boston repeated as NBA champion by defeating the Lakers, who had acquired Chamberlain, in a seven-game battle for the title. The great Celtics leader promptly retired, having guided the team to 11 championships in 13 years. Russell had amassed 21,620 career rebounds, second in NBA history only to Chamberlain`s 23,924. In 1973, Russell resurfaced as head coach and general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics. He took a team that had won only 26 games the year before and put it on a winning track, notching 36 victories the next season and then compiling a 43-39 record to earn a playoff berth in 1974-75. But Russell became frustrated at the players` reluctance to embrace his team concept. Some suggested that the problem was Russell himself; he was said to be aloof, moody and unable to accept anything but the Celtics` tradition. In any event, his enthusiasm for the task waned after his fourth season in 1976-77, and he departed. Ironically, Lenny Wilkens guided Seattle to a championship two years later, preaching the same team concept that Russell had tried unsuccessfully to instill in his players. A decade after he left Seattle, Russell gave coaching another try, replacing Jerry Reynolds as coach of the Sacramento Kings early in the 1987-88 season. The team staggered to a 17-41 record, and Russell departed in midseason. Between coaching stints Russell was most visible as a color commentator on televised basketball games. For a time he was paired with the equally blunt Rick Barry; the duo provided brutally frank commentary on the game. Russell was never comfortable in that setting, though, explaining to the Sacramento Bee, "The most successful television is done in eight-second thoughts, and the things I know about basketball, motivation and people go deeper than that." He also dabbled with acting, performing in a Seattle Children`s Theatre show and an episode of Miami Vice and he wrote a provocative autobiography, Second Wind. Russell`s lack of consistent success in other endeavors hasn`t diminished his place in basketball history, and he has had no shortage of post career honors over the years. In 1970, he was named to the NBA 25th Anniversary All-Time Team. In 1974, Russell was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1980, he was named to the NBA 35th Anniversary All-Time Team. That same year, he was voted Greatest Player in the History of the NBA by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America. Although the arrival of Michael Jordan later in the decade may have reopened the debate over who was truly the game`s best player, what remains irrefutable is that Russell radically changed people`s thinking about how basketball games are won. Dr. Charles Ogletree Charles Ogletree, the Harvard Law School Jesse Climenko Professor of Law and Vice Dean for the Clinical Programs, is a prominent legal theorist who has made an international reputation by taking a hard look at complex issues of law and by working to secure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution for everyone equally under the law. Professor Ogletree has examined these issues not only in the classroom, on the Internet and in the pages of prestigious law journals, but also in the everyday world of the public defender in the courtroom and in public television forums where these issues can be dramatically revealed. Armed with an arsenal of facts, Charles Ogletree presents and discusses the challenges that face our justice system and its attempt to deliver equal treatment to all our citizens. He furthers dialogue by insisting that the justice system protect rights guaranteed to those citizens by law. In 1998, Professor Ogletree was awarded the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law chair at Harvard Law School. He holds honorary doctorates of law from North Carolina Central University, New England School of Law, Tougaloo College, Amherst College, Wilberforce University, and the University of Miami School of Law. Professor Ogletree earned an M.A. and B.A. (with distinction) in Political Science from Stanford University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa. He also holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School where he served as Special Projects Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights - Civil Liberties Law Review. Charles Ogletree began his illustrious career as a staff attorney in the District of Columbia Public Defender Service. He quickly rose through the ranks serving as Training Director, Trial Chief, and Deputy Director of the Service before entering private practice in 1985 in the law firm of Jessamy, Fort & Ogletree. Professor Ogletree is formerly "of Counsel" to the Washington, D.C. firm of Jordan, Keys & Jessamy. Professor Ogletree is the author of the forthcoming book, All Deliberate Speed: Reflections on the First Half-Century of Brown v. Board of Education, published by W.W. Norton & Company, to be released in April of 2004 (www.alldeliberatespeed.com). He is the co-author of the award-winning book, Beyond the Rodney King Story: An Investigation of Police Conduct in Minority Communities, and he frequently contributes to the Harvard Law Review, among other publications. He has written chapters in several books, including If You Buy the Hat, He Will Come, in Faith of Our Fathers: African American Men Reflect on Fatherhood and The Tireless Warrior for Racial Justice, which appears in Reason & Passion: Justice Brennan`s Enduring Influence. Privileges and Immunities for Basketball Stars and Other Sport Heroes? appears in Basketball Jones, published in 2000. In addition, Professor Ogletree`s commentaries on a broad range of timely and important issues have appeared in the editorial pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Boston Globe, among other national newspapers. His commentary on how to make Black America better was published in the 2001 compilation, Lift Every Voice and Sing. Most recently, Professor Ogletree has contributed a chapter entitled The Rehnquist Revolution in Criminal Procedure, which appears in The Rehnquist Court: Judicial Activism on the Right, published in 2002. In 1991, Professor Ogletree served as Legal Counsel to Professor Anita Hill during the Senate Confirmation hearings for Justice Clarence Thomas. His reflections on those experiences are contained in The People vs. Anita Hill: The Case for Client-Centered Advocacy, a chapter of the book, Race, Gender and Power in America. He was profiled in an article in The American Lawyer entitled, Tree Time. More recently, Professor Ogletree was prominently featured in award-winning author Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot`s compelling book, I`ve Known Rivers, and in a Boston Globe magazine article entitled, Faith in the System. In 2003, he was selected by Savoy Magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in America and by Black Enterprise Magazine, along with Thurgood Marshall, A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., and Constance Baker Motley, as one of the legal legends among America`s top black lawyers. In 2002, he received the National Bar Association`s prestigious Equal Justice Award. In 2001, he joined a list of distinguished jurists, including former Supreme Court Justices Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan, and civil rights lawyers Elaine Jones and Oliver Hill, when he received the prestigious Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit from the Washington Bar Association. He also held the Wayne Morse Chair of Law and Politics at the University of Oregon Law School and was a Scholar in Residence at Stanford University. In 2000, Professor Ogletree was selected by the National Law Journal as one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America. He has received numerous awards, including the National Conference on Black Lawyers People`s Lawyer of the Year Award, the Man of Vision Award from the Museum of Afro-American History in Boston, the 1993 Albert Sacks-Paul A. Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard Law School, and in 1995, The Ellis Island Medal of Honor and The Ruffin-Fenwick Trailblazer Award named in honor of the first African-American man and woman to graduate from Harvard Law School. In 1996, the National Bar Association honored him with its Presidential Award for The Renaissance Man of the Legal Profession. He was also awarded the International House of Blues Foundation Martin Luther King, Jr. Drum Major Award, The Justice Louis Brandeis Medal for Public Service, and the 21st Century Achievement Award from the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. In addition to his strong academic focus, Charles Ogletree`s national media experience and exposure is considerable in its scope. In 2001 and 2002, Professor Ogletree moderated the nationally-televised forums, State of the Black Union and Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, produced by Tavis Smiley Productions. Professor Ogletree also served as the moderator of four of producer Fred Friendly`s seminal ten-part series, Ethics in America, which aired on PBS. Since 1990, he has moderated dozens of similar programs, including Hard Drugs, Hard Choices, Liberty & Limits: Whose Law, Whose Order? and Credibility in the Newsroom. Professor Ogletree has also appeared as a guest commentator on Nightline, This Week with David Brinkley, McNeil-Lehrer News Hour, Crossfire, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Larry King Live, Cochran & Company, Burden of Proof, and Meet the Press as well as other national and local television and radio programs. He served as NBC legal commentator on the O.J. Simpson case. Professor Ogletree also serves as the Co-Chair of the Reparations Coordinating Committee, a group of lawyers and other experts researching a lawsuit based upon a claim of reparations for descendants of African slaves, along with Randall Robinson, co-author of The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks. Professor Ogletree has a long record of commitment and service to public schools and higher education. He completed ten years of service to his alma mater, as a member of the Stanford University Board of Trustees, and for five years served as the national Chairman of the Stanford Fund, the University`s principal fund raising organization. Professor Ogletree`s development activities have also raised substantial funds for Harvard Law and the UDC, where he currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of the District of Columbia, a land grant and historically black college and university. He continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of the B.E.L.L. Foundation, which is committed to educating minority children in after school programs in Boston, New York, and Washington, D.C. In addition, Professor Ogletree served as one of the founding members and trustee of the Benjamin Banneker Charter School in Cambridge, a school that provides educational opportunities in math, science and technology to minority children in a public school setting. Professor Ogletree attended public schools in his hometown of Merced, California, and has set up a scholarship fund there that now annually provides support for needy students who want to pursue higher education. He has also provided scholarship support for students at Harvard Law School, Stanford University, and the University of the District of Columbia. Professor Ogletree has been married to his fellow Stanford graduate, Pamela Barnes, since 1975. They are the proud parents of two children, Charles Ogletree III and Rashida Ogletree. The Ogletree`s live in Cambridge and are members of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church. Faye F. Fields Faye is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Integrated Resource Technologies, Inc. (IRT), a provider of intelligence operations support, security services, information technology support, and management services to government and private corporations. IRT has multiple project locations throughout the U.S and Korea. By virtue of its growth and market niche, IRT was awarded the Black Enterprise Magazine “Emerging Small Business of the Year” award in 2004. Most recently, In November 2007, she was featured in "Gems of Wisdom for Succeeding in the 8(a) BD Program—and Beyond," a book authored by Dr. Sharon T. Freeman and M. Charito Kruvant to assist aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses. Faye graduated with honors from Middleton Senior High School; she studied Nursing at the Jewish Hospital of Cincinnati, Ohio later earning a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Nursing degrees at the University of Cincinnati. She continued her education at the same university completing all of the course requirements for a Ph. D. in Business Administration. Throughout her academic career she was active in student associations and the national honor sorority, Sigma Theta Tau. After more than 10 years in the health care field, where she served as both a service provider and an administrator in a University medical center, her interests shifted towards business and management. In 1979 she began her management-consulting career in New England at one of the most successful entrepreneurial enterprises and leading technology firms of the time-Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). At DEC she served in several capacities, to include, Senior Management Development and Internal Organizational Consultant positions. Upon moving to Washington, DC she built on the DEC experience, working at the executive level of several award-winning small and disadvantaged businesses. After having acquired a diverse background in management, organizational development, professional and managerial training, and health service delivery and administration, the time had come to establish her own professional services firm. In 1986 she founded IRT, Inc. based on a “business model” that maximizes talents of other small, minority, and woman-owned businesses. To this end, IRT teams with smaller businesses as subcontractors, enthusiastically shares lessons learned with aspiring entrepreneurs, and actively participates in initiatives and programs that support small business. IRT currently serves as a mentor for two start-up businesses. For more than 17 years, she has succeeded in the demanding and highly competitive Federal Government contracting industry, building a company with contract awards exceeding $50 million dollars. At the same time that she has been totally engaged in building a business, she always has been mindful of the need to “give back” and to “reach back.” As such, Faye has shown support to deserving community initiatives, especially those that contribute to enhancing the quality of life for women and disadvantaged citizens. In May 2006, Faye as a partner in the Lerner Family ownership group became a part owner of the Washington Nationals Major League Baseball Team. This places her in a select group of no more than 2 African American Women owners of major league baseball teams. Faye is also a member of the Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc Board, the Washington D.C. affiliate of CareFirst BlueCross and BlueShield, and the Board of Directors of South Eastern University. Above her professional and civic contributions, she is the devoted wife of William Fields. They reside in Washington, DC and have enjoyed 33 years of marriage. Steve Jacobson From the time I learned to read, I loved reading about sports because that told me how people reasponded to stress and, unlike war, nobody got killed. When I graduated from Indiana University I did my two years in the army playing baseball and writing propaganda and came out looking for a job in media. My first taste of the big time was covering the Bill Mazeroski World Series for Newsday. For the next 45 years I have watched athletes--male and female--responding to pressure, both succeeding and failing. I covered World Series, Super Bowl, NBA and NHL championships, Final Fours, Indianapolis and NASCAR, and the atrocities of Little League and high school sports. I found common human elements in all. Twice, what I found, led to my nomination for the Pulitzer Prize. All the while I was hearing the stories of how black athletes had to endure so much injustice, which led me to interview and collect what went into my newest book, "Carrying Jackie`s Torch." What I learned stunned me and I tried to pass on to the reader things that have been hidden by time. Those events, the cruelty, and the courage, should not be forgotten. When not following or writing about sport and sports figures, I enjoy traveling with my wife, Anita, skiing, food, more skiing, more travel with Anita, casting an eye on the follies of politics, and doing whatever I can with my son Mathew, his wife, Susan, and my daughter, Neila, who showed me what goes into being a female athlete. Elaine Weddington Steward Elaine Weddington Steward was appointed Vice President and Club Counsel on March 7, 2002. Elaine joined the Red Sox in July 1988 as associate counsel and was named assistant general manager in January, 1990. Steward was the first female assistant general manager in Major League Baseball. She was named legal counsel in February of 1995, while continuing with her responsibilities as assistant general manager. She held the assistant general manager position until 2002. Steward was appointed a Vice President of the Red Sox on January 30, 1998. Steward is a native of New York City and graduated with honors from St. John’s University in 1984 with a B.S. in Athletic Administration. While attending St. John’s she served as an intern in the New York Mets public relations department and was a member of the St. Vincent’s College Honor Society. She was a recipient of the prestigious Jackie Robinson Foundation Sports Management scholarship. In 1973, the year after Jackie Robinson died; his extraordinary commitment to youth was recognized when Mrs. Rachel Robinson founded the Jackie Robinson Foundation. The Jackie Robinson Foundation honors Jackie`s memory by keeping alive the spark and commitment that he brought to social issues. The Foundation continues Jackie`s fight for human dignity and brotherhood by supporting college-bound minority and poor young people by awarding them scholarships as they seek to develop their potential. Upon graduation from St. John’s University School of Law in 1987, Elaine was an intern in the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball through the Executive Development program. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in April of 1988 and is a member of the American Bar Association. In 1999 she was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Leaders of Boston and was elected into the YWCA Academy of Women Achievers. In 2001 she received the Outstanding Alumna Award from the St. John’s University Black Alumni Association. Don Orsillo – Biographical Brief Don Orsillo is the play-by-play announcer for Boston Red Sox games on the New England Sports Network. He was born in Melrose, Massachusetts where he often dreamed of being a broadcaster for the Red Sox. Orsillo graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Communication Studies. While at Northeastern, he interned under Red Sox radio voice Joe Castiglione. Before doing Major League Baseball games, he worked in the minor leagues announcing Pawtucket Red Sox games on the radio from (1996-2000), having previously done games for some of the New York Mets` minor league affiliates. He has been NESN`s play-by-play man since the beginning of the 2001 season (his first game included a no-hitter thrown by then Red Sox pitcher Hideo Nomo against the Baltimore Orioles). He also called Cal Ripken Jr.`s final game. Orsillo works with color commentator and former Red Sox second baseman Jerry Remy. He is sometimes referred to by fans as "announcer boy," after he was given that nickname by Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield in a NESN commercial.[1] In addition to his Red Sox duties, Orsillo has called the Beanpot hockey tournanment and Boston College men`s basketball on NESN. Orsillo was tabbed by TBS to work the Philadelphia Phillies vs. Colorado Rockies series of the 2007 National League Division Series, teaming with Joe Simpson.[2] He currently lives in Smithfield, Rhode Island with his wife, Lisa, and their two daughters, Sydney and Madison. Wednesday, November 7, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Tim Kurkjian -- ESPN Author of and Speaking on: "Is This a Great Game or What?” 6:30 PM Dinner EMC Club (enter off Yawkey Way) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $65 Non-Members, $75 Cost includes autographed copies of Mr. Kurkjian’s book To register for this event please click here. Tim Kurkjian– Biographical Brief Tim Kurkjian is a Major League Baseball analyst on ESPN`s Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter. He is also a contributor to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com. He guests on Mike & Mike in the Morning on Thursdays at 7:44 AM, discussing the latest in happenings in Major League Baseball. Mr. Kurkjian is well known for his Baseball Tonight segments and SportsCenter reports that include an in-depth analysis of statistics, trade situations, and unusual "Did-You-Know?" facts. In his article "Gaining an Appreciation for the Sacrifice Fly" (July 14, 2007, ESPN the Magazine), he confessed, "I`ve always been fascinated by sacrifice flies.” He has an extensive background in covering baseball. His journalism career began with the Washington Star in 1978 following his graduation from the University of Maryland; he then worked briefly for the Baltimore News American in 1981. Mr. Kurkjian began covering baseball as the Texas Rangers beat writer for the Dallas Morning News where he worked from 1981 to 1985. Kurkjian then covered the Baltimore Orioles for the Baltimore Sun beginning in 1986. He was a senior writer for Sports Illustrated from 1989-1997 as well as a reporter for CNN/SI from 1996-1997. He authored his first book, "America`s Game", in 2000 and his second book, "Is This a Great Game, or What?: From A-Rod`s Heart to Zim`s Head – My 25 Years in Baseball", was released in May 2007. Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe says, “Tim Kurkjian has written a wonderfully entertaining book, but that’s not surprising, because Tim’s a wonderfully entertaining guy. And, as funny as he is to read, he’s even funnier to listen to. His knowledge of the game is second to none.” Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Mr. Kurkjian was the 2007 Commencement speaker at Walter Johnson High School (he’s a graduate of that high school). Friday, September 28, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Frank Deford -- the Legendary Sports Illustrated writer and NPR Morning Edition Commentator Author of and Speaking on: "The Entitled: A Tale of Modern Baseball" 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 Event Sponsor: Frank Deford -- The Man Who`s Been Called, "The world?s greatest sportswriter" "Baseball is a game of instinct and keen observation, of knowing which way the ball is going to bounce off a broken bat and knowing whether a player wears his pants high or low. At least it is to Howie Traveler, who never made it as a player?his one major league hit and .091 batting average attest to that. After years of struggling his way up the coaching ladder, Howie`s finally been given his shot to manage in the big leagues. But America`s pastime has changed. Whether Howie can spot a small flaw in a batter`s swing won`t matter if he can`t manage today`s megastar players?especially his superstar outfielder Jay Alcazar. If Howie can`t get through to Jay?a homerun slugger with giant talents and an ego to match?his managing career will be over as soon as it began. But Jay has no use for Howie. Until, that is, one night at the hotel when Howie sees something at Jay`s door he wishes he hadn`t..." From six-time National Sportswriter of the Year and NPR commentator Frank Deford comes a page-turning novel that takes you deep into America`s game. "The Entitled" (May 16; 978-1-40220-896-6; $24.95; fiction) is a tale of modern baseball. It takes you inside a ball club and inside the mind of a defeated manager and a champion slugger, as only Deford can. He creates a world where the idealism of the old game meets the reality of today?s sports landscape, as idolized millionaires step in to replace the boyhood heroes of yesterday. Deford?s writing is authentic and emanates today?s baseball. Fans who already know quite a bit about the game will get more knowledge out of this book than they have with non-fiction books on the genre. Frank Deford is a six-time National Sportswriter of the Year, Senior Contributing Editor at Sports Illustrated, commentator on NPR?s Morning Edition, and a correspondent on the HBO show RealSports with Bryant Gumbel. In addition to being the author of more than a dozen books, he has been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters and has been awarded both an Emmy and a Peabody. Sporting News describes Deford as ?the most influential sports voice among members of the print media? and GQ simply calls him ?the world?s greatest sportswriter.? Wednesday, August 1, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: One of America’s Most Celebrated Writers: Roy Blount Jr. Author of and Speaking on his widely acclaimed new book: "Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From Up South" 12-Noon Luncheon EMC Club (enter at 20 Yawkey Way) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 (autographed copy of “Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From Up South) To register for this event please click here. Books by Roy Blount Jr. SELF-PROMOTIONAL BIO, IN THIRD PERSON Roy Blount Jr.`s twentieth book, "Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From Up South," has just been published by Knopf. His biography of Robert E. Lee has recently come out in paperback. "Feet on the Street: Rambles Around New Orleans," which according to the New York Times" delivers the goods: a wild, unpredictable ramble through a wild, unpredictable town." He is a panelist on NPR`s "Wait Wait...Don`t Tell Me" and a columnist for The Oxford American. He was recently named president of the Authors Guild and elected to the Fellowship of Southern Writers. His first book, about hanging out with the Pittsburgh Steelers, "About Three Bricks Shy...And the Load Filled Up," now available from the University of Pittsburgh Press, was named one of the ten best sports books ever by Jonathan Yardley of The Washington Post --and just recently called, by Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker, "the best of all books about pro football." Norman Mailer said of his second book, "Crackers," "Page for page, Roy Blount is as funny as anyone I`ve read in a long time," and Time placed Blount "in the tradition of the great curmudgeons like H.L. Mencken and W.C. Fields." Garrison Keillor said in The Paris Review, "Blount is the best. He can be literate, uncouth and soulful all in one sentence." Playboy said he was "known to the critics as our next Mark Twain." Whether, on the one hand, it is his place to quote these plaudits and whether, on the other hand, he feels that they are adequate, are questions not for him to answer at this time. He has been named a Literary Lion by the New York Public Library and a Literary Light by the Boston one, and he is a usage consultant to The American Heritage Dictionary. His one-man show at the American Place Theatre was described by The New Yorker as "the most humorous and engaging fifty minutes in town"--which, when you stop to think how many fifty minutes there are in New York at any given time, is something. In l988 he expanded that show into Roy Blount`s Happy Hour and a Half. He has performed for Folk Tree Concerts and at Chet Atkins` Celebrity Golf Tournament, and introduced Chet in Carnegie Hall. A regular panelist on NPR`s Wait Wait Don`t Tell Me, he has appeared on A Prarie Home Companion frequently and on CBS Morning Show, Tonight Show, David Letterman Show, Good Morning America, Today Show, Larry King, Politically Incorrect, and in a series of TV spots for the NBA starring Bill Murray, which he helped Murray create. A contributing editor of The Atlantic Monthly, he writes a regular column ("Gone Off Up North") for The Oxford American, and has done so in the past for Esquire, The New York Times, Atlanta Magazine, Inside Sports, The Soho News, Men`s Journal, Conde Nast Traveller, The San Francisco Examiner, Spy and The Atlanta Journal. His essays, articles, stories, verses and even drawings have appeared in 166 different periodicals including The New Yorker, Gourmet, Playboy, Vanity Fair, GQ, Life, TV Guide, Vogue, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, Antaeus, Smithsonian and Organic Gardening; and in 174 books, including "The Best of Modern Humor," "The Oxford Book of American Light Verse," "The Norton Book of Light Verse," "The Ultimate Baseball Book," "Classic Southern Humor," "Sudden Fiction," "The Elvis Reader," "Russell Baker`s Book of American Humor," "Baseball: A Literary Anthology," "The Sophisticated Cat," "The F-Word," and "Best American Essays l997." This work has taken him to China, Uganda, Iceland and all but two states. He has written introductions to books by Erskine Caldwell, A.J.Liebling, Ernie Bushmiller Jr.and Phil Rizzuto, and to four different books by Mark Twain--in particular extensive foreword and afterword accompanying first book-form publication of Twain`s story "A Murder, a Mystery and a Marriage" (2001). For Sports Illustrated, where he was a staff writer and editor l968-75, he has rafted the Amazon (attacked by piranha), played baseball with the 1969 Chicago Cubs (hit a ball 350 feet), become all but athletically a virtual member of the dynasty-years Pittsburgh Steelers, and hung out with Wilt Chamberlain, Yogi Berra, Reggie Jackson and the world`s oldest then-living lifeguard. (Though not all at once.) He has written the screenplay of "Larger Than Life" starring Bill Murray, the lyrics of a song Andie MacDowell sings in "Michael," and an HBO fairy tale, "The Frog Princess." Of his two one-act plays produced at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, one became part of an Off-Broadway review. In films he has portrayed a reporter, an outraged grocery shopper and a partygoer dressed as Truman Capote; on TV, a dim-witted talk-show caller and a Cuban soldier; on radio, the Prodigal Son, Orpheus, a ship`s captain named Blauggh, a foolish virgin, Millard Fillmore and Thoreau. He has read or lectured at colleges from Harvard to Clemson to Washington State; at the 92nd Street Y, Symphony Space, Manhattan Theatre Club, Theatre for a New Audience, San Francisco`s City Arts and Lecture Series, the San Diego Forum and the Mark Twain House. Journeyed down the Mississippi River for the documentary The Main Stream, aired by PBS in December `02. He covered the l992 Democratic and Republican conventions and Presidential election night by commenting, live and instantaneously, from a Barcalounger, on Comedy Central. Via various media he has reported on the Civil Rights Movement, the Ku Klux Klan, Saturday Night Live in its prime, Elvis`s funeral, an Olympics and several World Series and Super Bowls, and interviewed Martin Luther King, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, Satchell Paige, Joe Dimaggio, Willie Mays, Loretta Lynn, Eudora Welty, Billy Carter, Gilda Radner, Casey Stengel, Jonathan Demme, Rep. Dick Armey, Cool Papa Bell and Sally Rand. He has publicly expressed his misgivings about every president since John F. Kennedy, with the exception, for some reason, of Gerald Ford. He has jumped out of a plane, graduated (conditionally) from race-car driving school, scuba-dived with sharks, sung on stage (as a member of the authors` rock band Rock Bottom Remainders) with Bruce Springsteen and Stephen King, hit a game-winning Texas Leaguer (and had limes thrown at him) in Venezuela, caught catfish with his bare hands in Illinois; and ridden a camel in Kenya, a dolphin in the Florida Keys, an elephant in L.A. Born l94l to Southern parents in Indianapolis. Grew up in Decatur, Georgia. Vanderbilt B.A. `63, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude; Harvard M.A. `64. U.S. Army l964-66. Reporter and columnist for Atlanta Journal and part-time English instructor at Georgia State College, l966-68. Free-lance since leaving SI in l975. Lives in western Massachusetts and Manhattan. Husband of painter Joan Griswold, father of social worker daughter Ennis and director-writer-actor-songwriter son Kirven (with whom he wrote and appeared in a five-minute film on extreme sports for ESPN), grandfather of three. No pets at present, but previously dogs, cats, horse, rooster, snake, turtle, hamster, monitor lizard, parakeet and hens. Wednesday, August 1, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Two Legendary Red Sox – Bobby Doerr & Dominic DiMaggio Featuring Two New Films about These Great Players with Commentary by Dick Flavin & Dr. Charles Steinberg 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse at Fenway Park (enter of Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation & BoSox Members, $40 Non-Members, $50 To register for this event please click here. Bobby Doerr He batted over .300 three times, with six 100-RBI seasons. Never playing a game at a position other than second base, he retired after the 1951 season having played in 1,865 games and having 7,093 at bats, 8,028 plate appearances, 1,094 runs, 2,042 hits, 3,270 total bases, 381 doubles, 89 triples, 223 home runs, 1,247 rbi, 809 walks, 1,349 singles, 1,184 runs created, 693 extra-base hits, 2,862 times on base, 115 sacrifice hits and nine All-Star Game selections. He was also regarded as the top defensive second basemen of his era. He once held the American League record by handling 414 chances in a row without an error and was often among the league leaders basemen in fielding. Ted Williams referred to Doerr as "the silent captain of the Red Sox."[1] Doerr broke into the majors in 1937 at the age of 19 and went 3 for 5 in his first game. In 1938 he became a regular in a powerful Red Sox lineup that included Jimmie Foxx and Joe Cronin. Early in his career Doerr was often called upon to bunt and was so proficient at it that he led the league in bunts with 22 in 1938. In 1939, Ted Williams` rookie season with the Sox, Doerr began a string of 12 consecutive seasons with 10 or more home runs and 73 or more RBI. In 1944 he led the league in slugging percentage. The same year his .325 batting average was good enough to allow him to finish second in the league in that category, 2 percentage points behind Cleveland`s Lou Boudreau. Doerr was an offensive force for the Red Sox in the 1946 World Series when he hit .409 with a home run and 3 runs batted in. On May 13, 1947, Doerr hit for the cycle in Boston`s 19-6 win over the Chicago White Sox. In 1950 he led the league in triples with 11. Doerr was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986. He has lived in Oregon ever since the late `30`s, and still lives there today. His jersey number 1 was retired by the Red Sox on May 21, 1988. Since then, Mr. Doerr has lived a relatively quiet lifestyle at his Oregon home. He makes annual trips to the Hall of Fame induction at Cooperstown in New York, and when home, regularly fishes large game fish. Mr. Doerr lost his wife Monica of 65 years in 2003 after she suffered a number of strokes, however he has carried on his quiet life since then. Dom DiMaggio Dominic Paul DiMaggio (born February 12, 1917 in San Francisco, California) is a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the Boston Red Sox from 1940 to 1953. An effective leadoff hitter, he batted .300 four times and led the American League in runs twice and in triples and stolen bases once each. He also led the AL in assists three times and in putouts and double plays twice each; he tied a league record by recording 400 putouts four times, and his 1948 totals of 503 putouts and 526 total chances stood as AL records for nearly thirty years. His 1338 games in center field ranked eighth in AL history when he retired. His 34-game hitting streak in 1949 remains a Boston club record. He was the youngest of three brothers who each became major league center fielders: Joe was a star with the rival New York Yankees, and Vince played for five National League teams. The youngest of nine children born to Sicilian immigrants, Dom`s small stature (5`9") and eyeglasses earned him the nickname "The Little Professor". After breaking into the minor leagues in 1937 with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League, Dom DiMaggio`s contract was purchased by the Red Sox following a 1939 season in which he batted .361; he hit .301 in his 1940 rookie season, becoming part of a .300-hitting outfield with Ted Williams and Doc Cramer. In both 1941 and 1942 he scored over 100 runs to finish third in the AL, and was among the league`s top ten players in doubles and steals; he was named an All-Star both years. After missing three years serving in the Coast Guard in World War II, he returned in 1946 with his best season yet, batting .316 to place fifth in the league, and coming in ninth in the MVP voting as Boston won its first pennant in 28 years. Batting third, he hit only .259 in the 1946 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, but was almost a Series hero for Boston. With two out in the eighth inning of Game 7, he doubled to drive in two runs, tying the score 3-3; but he pulled his hamstring coming into second base, and had to be removed for a pinch runner. The result was costly, as Harry Walker doubled to center field in the bottom of the inning, with Enos Slaughter scoring from first base in his famed "Mad Dash" to win the game and Series for St. Louis; had DiMaggio remained in the game, Walker`s hit might have been catchable, or the outfielder`s strong arm might have held Slaughter to third base. After an offensively disappointing year in 1947, DiMaggio rebounded in 1948 to score 127 runs (second in the AL) with career highs in doubles (40), runs batted in (87) and walks (101). His 503 putouts broke Baby Doll Jacobson`s AL record of 484, set with the 1924 St. Louis Browns; his 526 total chances surpassed the league mark of 498 shared by Sam Rice of the 1920 Washington Senators and Jacobson. At the time, the marks ranked behind only Taylor Douthit`s totals of 547 and 566 with the 1928 Cardinals in major league history; both records stood until 1977, when Chet Lemon of the Chicago White Sox recorded 512 putouts and 536 total chances. In 1949 DiMaggio batted .307 with 126 runs, and had his team-record 34-game hitting streak; ironically, the streak was ended on August 9 by an outstanding catch made by his brother Joe. That year he made 400 putouts for the fourth time, tying the AL record held by Sam West of the Senators and Browns; the mark was later tied by two other players before being broken by Lemon in 1985. In 1950 DiMaggio led the AL in runs (131), triples (11) and stolen bases (15) while hitting a career-high .328; on June 30 he and Joe hit home runs while playing against one another, becoming the fourth pair of brothers to homer in the same game. He again led the league in runs (113) in 1951, when he had a 27-game hitting streak from May 12 to June 7. He retired in May 1953, after appearing in only three games that year as a pinch hitter, with a .298 batting average, 1680 hits, 308 doubles, 87 home runs, 1046 runs and 618 RBI in 1399 games. He was selected an All-Star seven times (1941-42, 1946, 1949-52). His career average of 2.98 chances per game remains the record for AL outfielders. DiMaggio enjoyed a close friendship with teammates Ted Williams, Bobby Doerr, and Johnny Pesky, which was chronicled in David Halberstam`s book The Teammates. After retiring, he became a plastics manufacturer in New England. He was inducted into the Boston Red Sox Hall of Fame in 1995. He and his wife Emily, to whom he has been married since 1948, have 3 children and several grand-children. It was once said of the brothers` talents: "Joe is the best hitter, Dom is the best fielder, and Vince is the best singer." There was also a ditty sometimes sung in Boston after 1946 that included the words: "Better than his brother Joe, Dominic DiMaggio...." In an article in 1976 in Esquire magazine, sportswriter Harry Stein published an "All Time All-Star Argument Starter," consisting of five ethnic baseball teams. Dom DiMaggio was the left fielder on Stein`s Italian team. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Thursday, June 14, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: The Honorable Bill Bradley Author of and Speaking on: "The New American Story" 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation/BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 (autographed copy of Senator Bradley`s book included) To register for this event please click here. Senator Bill Bradley – Biographical Notes Senator William W. Bradley, 63, is a Managing Director of Allen & Company LLC. From 2001-2004, he acted as chief outside advisor to McKinsey & Company’s nonprofit practice. He was a Senior Advisor and Vice Chairman of the International Council of JP Morgan & Co., Inc. from 1997-1999. During that time, he also worked as an essayist for CBS evening news and was a visiting professor at Stanford University, University of Notre Dame and the University of Maryland. Senator Bradley served in the U.S. Senate from 1979 – 1997 representing the state of New Jersey. In 2000, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States. Prior to serving in the Senate, he was an Olympic gold medalist in 1964 and a professional basketball player with the New York Knicks from 1967 – 1977 during which time they won 2 NBA championships. In 1982 he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Senator Bradley holds a BA degree in American History from Princeton University and an MA degree from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He has authored six books on American politics, culture and economy. George Vecsey Photo by Fred R. Conrad -- The New York Times Friday, June 1, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: George Vecsey -- The New York Times Sports of The Times Columnist Author of and Speaking on: "Baseball: A History of America`s Favorite Game" 12-Noon Luncheon Crown Royal Room -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation Members, $40 Non-Members, $50 (autographed copy of Mr. Vecsey`s book included) To register for this event please click here. New York Times Biography -- George Vecsey After three years of covering religion for The Times, including two papal conclaves, George Vecsey returned to where he began his journalism career -- writing about sports. In January 1982, following the death of the sports columnist Red Smith, he was named a columnist, joining Dave Anderson in writing "Sports of The Times." Mr. Vecsey had been a sports reporter for Newsday, on Long Island from 1960 to 1968, when he joined The Times. After two years of writing on a variety of sports, he became a national correspondent opening a Times bureau in Louisville, Ky. -- covering everything from coal mining to country music to the Kentucky Derby. That assignment lasted until 1973. He returned to New York to become Long Island correspondent, covering that area until May 1977, when he started to write about religion. On the religion beat he covered papal trips to Mexico and the U.S. In 1978 he covered the conclaves in Rome that elected John Paul I and John Paul II. Mr. Vecsey has written or edited many books -- some on sports. A few examples of his work are: "Joy in Mudville" in 1970, a history of the New York Mets; "One Sunset a Week," the story of a radical coal-mining family in Appalachia, that received good reviews and a few honors, 1974; "Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner`s Daughter" in 1976, a bestseller that was made into a film in 1980 starring Cissy Spacek and, in 1985, "Martina," the autobiography of Martina Navratilova, also a best seller. In 1986, he wrote "A Year in the Sun," how and why he wrote columns in one year. He also wrote a book on the pioneers of aviation and collaborated on another with Bob Welch, the Cy Young Award-winner who is a recovering alcoholic. In 1990, he collaborated with Barbara Mandrell on her autobiography, "Get to the Heart," a New York Times best seller for 19 weeks. In 1990, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University. In 1991, he was voted the New York State Sportswriter of the Year, for the sixth straight year, by the National Association of Sportswriters and Sportcasters. Friday, May 11, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Dr. Andrew Zimbalist Author of and Speaking on: "In the Best Interests of Baseball: The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig" 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation/BoSox Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 (autographed copy of Dr. Zimbalist`s book included) To register for this event please click here. Andrew Zimbalist – Scholar, Baseball Fan Dr. Zimbalist’s "In the Best Interests of Baseball: The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig," the book he will discuss when he joins us May 11 over lunch, has been widely acclaimed. Here is what some people are saying: “I always thought Yogi Berra was the wisest source on baseball, but Zimbalist has hit a grand slam here.” Tom Werner, Chairman, Boston Red Sox “Andrew Zimbalist has done a very credible, eminently readable and engaging job describing MLB`s commissioners, particularly Bud Selig, who easily has become the most significant figure in baseball in decades. While Selig will not necessarily share all of Zimbalist`s views about the game, In the Best Interests of Baseball has thoughtfully, and perhaps uniquely, tracked many of the thorny issues that Selig confronted during baseball`s new golden era.” John Moores, owner, San Diego Padres; member, MLB Executive Council “Baseball books, like the game itself, are often replete with errors. But Andrew Zimbalist has written a carefully researched yet lively review of the record of the nine Commissioners that is both fair and accurate. It is long overdue and a superb read.” Fay Vincent, former commissioner of baseball. "Once again, Andy Zimbalist proves that no one understands the mysterious inner workings of the best game on earth better than he does. With energy, thoughtfulness and passion, he has parsed the complicated world of baseball and shown how important its business side is to its soul - and its survival." Ken Burns, the celebrated PBS producer and baseball documentarian Included among Dr. Zimbalist’s many other publishing accomplishments are: "Baseball and Billions: A Probing Look Inside the Big Business of Our National Pastime," with Basic Books, a subsidiary of Harper Collins. Business Week listed "Baseball and Billions" as one of the top eight business books of 1992. "Sports, Jobs and Taxes: The Economic Impact of Sports Teams and Stadiums" with the Brookings Institution Press, which he co-edited and co-authored with Roger Noll, from Stanford University. The Wall Street Journal called "Sports, Jobs and Taxes." It was selected by Lingua Franca as a Breakthrough Book. "May The Best Team Win: Baseball Economics and Public Policy," with a foreword by Bob Costas. Early reviews of the book include the following. Harvard’s Paul Weiler called “May the Best Team Win" a great book, just the latest indication of why I tell my students at Harvard Andrew Zimbalist is the top sports economist in the country.” "National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer," co-authored with Stefan Szymanski, was awarded the 2005 prize for “Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice, the major review journal of the American Library Association. Bob Costas said "Baseball is America`s national pastime, but soccer is the world`s sporting passion. Whether you prefer Beckham or Bonds, the Boston Red Sox or Manchester United, you will be enlightened by this examination of the similarities and differences as seen by two of the sharpest minds in the field of sports business." "The Bottom Line: Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business," the latest of Dr. Zimbalist’s books, was published by Temple University Press in 2006. Of it CBS sportscaster Leslie Visser wrote, “Andrew has taken important topics and given us a thoughtful, fascinating, and deeply prepared discussion of the games we hold so dear.” Dr. Zimbalist’s articles and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, The Nation, The Brookings Review, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, US News and World Report, Business Week, USA Today, Foreign Policy, World Development, Brill’s Content, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Seton Hall Journal of Sports Law, Le Monde Diplomatique, Latin American Research Review, Journal of Latin American Studies, Journal of Sports Economics, Journal of Economic Perspectives, The Milken Institute Review, Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the New York Times Magazine, among other places. He has appeared on numerous national radio and television talk shows discussing both international economics and the economics of sports and is an active participant on the lecture circuit. He wrote the foreword to the second edition of Bob Costas’ Fair Ball, is a contributing columnist for the Sports Business Journal and was chosen as the 1998 sports journalist of the year by the Village Voice. He did a bi-weekly commentary on the business of sports for NPR’s Marketplace during 2002-2004. PBS’ Wall Street Week with Fortune introduced him as the country’s leading sports economist. He serves as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Economics. Dr. Zimbalist is a Professor of Economics at Smith College. He received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1969 and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1972 and 1974 respectively. He has been in the Economics Department at Smith College since 1974. He has consulted in Latin America for the United Nations Development Program, the U.S. Agency for International Development and numerous companies, and he has consulted in the sports industry for players` associations, cities, companies, teams and leagues. He lives with his wife and children in Northampton. Friday, April 20, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Dan Shaughnessy & Stan Grossfeld of The Boston Globe Authors of and Speaking on: "FENWAY: A Biography in Words and Pictures, Expanded and Updated" Mr. Shaughnessy will also speak on his latest book: “Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball.” 12-Noon Luncheon Absolut Clubhouse -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) BoSox and Red Sox Nation Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 (autographed copy of both books included) To register for this event please click here. DAN SHAUGHNESSY is an award-winning columnist for The Boston Globe and one of the nation`s most highly regarded sports writers. Mr. Shaughnessy is the author of several books on baseball, "Reversing the Curse" and the best-selling "Curse of the Bambino," as well as "At Fenway: Dispatches from Red Sox Nation," "Seeing Red: The Red Auerbach Story," and, with Stan Grossfeld, "Spring Training." Mr. Shaughnessy graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. He grew up in Groton, and now lives in Newton. His son Sam plays baseball for Boston College. The Shaugnessy family "adopted" a student from the METCO program, inviting him into their home and essentially making him a family member. The Shaughnessy family also has a daughter who successfully battled cancer "a long time ago". Mr. Shaughnessy is a regular guest on Mike Barnicle`s weekday radio show, airing on WTK STAN GROSSFELD is an Associate Editor of The Boston Globe, who won consecutive Pulitzer Prizes in 1984 and 1985 for his photography in Ethiopia, at the United States - Mexican border, and in Lebanon. He won two consecutive Overseas Press Club awards, first for Best Photographic Reporting from Abroad and then for ``human compassion`` for his work in Ethiopia. For his striking photos of hunger in Ethiopia, Grossfeld took the top prize for photojournalism in 1985 in the 4th annual World Hunger Media Awards competition. That award included a $10,000 prize, which he donated to Oxfam America to help fight hunger in Africa. Grossfeld began his career with the Star-Ledger in Newark, N.J. in 1973. Since joining the Globe in 1975 he has been named New England Photographer of the Year five times. A graduate of Boston University, Grossfeld is the author of "Nantucket: The Other Season"; the author and editor of "The Eyes of the Globe"; and co-authored with Globe reporter Wil Haygood ``Two on the River``, the story of their journey down the Mississippi River. "The Eyes of the Globe" is a selection of 25 years of photography by various Globe photographers. Grossfeld was named Associate Editor of the Globe in 1987. Friday, March 16, 2007 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: The Honorable Kathleen Kennedy Townsend -- Former Lt. Governor, State of Maryland Author of and Speaking on: "Failing America`s Faithful: How Churches have Mixed God and Politics and Lost Their Way" 6:30 PM Dinner EMC Club – Fenway Park (enter off Yawkey Way) Fenway Park Writers & Red Sox Nation Members, $50 Non-Members, $60 (autographed copy of Ms. Kennedy’`s book included) Briefly Biographical Kathleen Kennedy Townsend has a long history of accomplishment in the public arena. As Maryland’s first woman Lt. Governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend was in charge of a multimillion dollar budget and had oversight of major departments including State Police, Economic Development, Transportation, and the Office of Children Youth and Families. She is known nationally for her innovative and results oriented programs such as Hot Spots, Break the Cycle, the development of Marylands bio-tech business, the launching of the e-readiness initiative and the establishment of one of the first state wide offices of character education. Before being elected Lt. Governor, Mrs. Townsend served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States. In that role, she led the planning to put 100,000 police officers into the community and she ignited the Police Corps, a program to give college scholarships to young people who pledge to work as police officers for four years after graduating. Prior to serving at the Department of Justice, Mrs.Townsend spent seven years as the founder and director of the Maryland Student Service Alliance. It was in this role that she led the fight to make Maryland the first state in the nation to require all high school students perform community service. Before launching that initiative, Mrs.Townsend worked as an environmental attorney both in private practice and as an Assistant Attorney General in Maryland. In addition, in 1982 she managed Senator Edward M.Kennedy’s successful re-election campaign. Mrs.Townsend has taught foreign policy at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She has published articles in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Washington Monthly, among others. In the mid-eighties she founded the Robert F.Kennedy Human Rights Award – and award whose recipients now include the Comadres of El Salvador, Adam Michnic of Poland, and Beyers Naude of South Africa. Mrs.Townsend is Chair of the Institute for Human Virology at the University of Maryland and currently serves on the boards of directors of the John F.Kennedy Library Foundation, Points of Light Foundations, Strategic Partnerships, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the Character Education Partnership and she is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Inter-American Dialogue. She previously served on the boards of the Export-Import Bank, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the Wilderness Society, the Baltimore Urban League and was chair of the Robert Kennedy Memorial. A honors graduate of Harvard University, she received her law degree from the University of New Mexico where she was a member of the law review. She has received ten honorary degrees. The eldest child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, Lt.Governor Townsend lives in Baltimore County with her husband, David, a professor at St.John’s College in Annapolis. They have four daughters, Meaghan (27), Maeve (25), Kate (21), and Kerry (13). About Katheen`s Book Kathleen Kennedy Townsend grew up in a time when faith inspired people to fight for civil rights, to join the peace corps, to make the United States a moral voice in the world. This has been lost. Kennedy Townsend writes with a compelling passion urging America`s churches and their congregants to reclaim the legacy of an active faith. For too long, the subject of religion has been politicized by the right and largely ignored by the left, as American churches have become increasingly more strident in their condemnation of others rather than inspiring their own congregations to be "a good neighbor". Now, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend issues a call to arms to churches and all those who see that on this earth we should judge ourselves on what we do for others. Kennedy Townsend speaks personally and from the heart about the tragedies that struck her family and how faith and service were a way to heal and survive. She movingly recalls what it was like to grow up as the eldest Kennedy of her generation, a member of a prominent Catholic family at a time when both America and church leaders such as the Reverend Martin Luther King, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Reverend Sloane Coffin, and the Berrigan brothers (Father Daniel and Father Phil) were leading a revolutionary transformation. The traditional role of churches has been to promote the welfare of those in the community who depend on them —the poor, the sick, those in need. Yet American churches today involve themselves more in offering prescriptions of what one ought not to do, then in working for the common good. . She documents how America’s churches have been in the forefront of the fight for social progress: from the original struggle for independence, to the abolitionist movement, to efforts supporting the vote for women, better conditions for working people, and Civil Rights. This book’s inspiring message is one of hope and spiritual renewal. Powerful, personal, and provocative, "FAILING AMERICA’S FAITHFUL" demonstrates how Americans and their churches can reclaim their religious traditions and transform their lives, and this very nation. What’s being said about Failing America`s Faithful: "Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is a woman of passion, integrity and faith. Her Christian witness requires her to remember and act on Jesus` repeated instructions to love our neighbors, care for the poor, and repair the breaches among us. She makes a compelling case for those who share her faith to do the same. – President William Jefferson Clinton "Townsend is...a committed Catholic who despairs of the Church’s political leanings and who counters with an ethic of service to the poor and powerless…Watch for elements of Townsend’s well-framed argument at the 2008 Democratic Convention.” – Kirkus Reviews Wednesday, January 31, 2007 The Boston Red Sox & The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Present: The Sixth Annual Birthday Tribute to the Life of Jackie Robinson Featuring Sharon Robinson Birthday Celebration Program & Luncheon: 11:00 am-1:00 pm EMC Club – Fenway Park (enter off Yawkey Way) Writer Series & Red Sox Nation Members, $50, Non-Members, $65 (autographed copy of Ms. Robinson’s book included) To register for this event please click here. Sharon Robinson – Author & Major League Baseball Consultant Sharon Robinson, daughter of legendary baseball hero Jackie Robinson, is the author of several books for young readers, including "Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America" (2004) and her newest book, "Safe at Home" (Scholastic, 2006), a novel. As an educational consultant for Major League Baseball, she oversees school and community-based education programs such as Breaking Barriers, In Sport, In Life, a national character education program designed to empower students with strategies to help them face obstacles in their lives. The program has reached more than 9 million children across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. Birthday Tribute to the Life of Jackie Robinson On March 2nd, 2005, in the Great Rotunda of the Capitol of the United States, President George W. Bush presented to Rachel Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal, given posthumously in honor of her late husband, Jackie Robinson. Ms. Robinson’s daughter, Sharon, and her son, David, were present at the special ceremony, as were Congressional leaders and more than 500 people. The Congressional Gold Medal given Mr. Robinson took place 58 years after he became the first black player in major league baseball. It is worthy of note that the first recipient of the Gold Medal, the nation’s highest civilian award, was first presented to George Washington. The story of how Jackie Robinson was finally awarded the honor he had long deserved began January 31, 2003, at the first Red Sox birthday tribute to his remarkable life. On That occasion at Fenway Park, team President & CEO Larry Lucchino announced that the following day Senators John Kerry and John McCain, joined by Congressmen Richard Neal and Peter King, would introduce legislation to obtain for Jackie Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal. That effort, culminating more than two years later in the presentation of the Gold Medal by the President, represents one of the most extraordary efforts ever by a professional sports team to rectify what had been a significant oversight by the nation’s political and civilian leadership. The idea of a Gold Medal for Jackie Robinson began with George Mitrovich, now chairman of The Great Fenway Park Writers Series, and Melody Miller, a key aide to Senator Ted Kennedy. But an idea, however worthy, is just that, until it receives the support it requires. The Red Sox organization, Senators Kerry and McCain, Congressmen Neal and King, and two key Congressional aides, Katie Joyce of Senator Kerry’s staff, and Billy Tranghese of Congressman Neal’s staff, provided that critical support. Since the first birthday tribute to Mr. Robinson, conceived by Dr. Charles Steinberg, the Red Sox’s Vice President for Public Affairs, and planned by George Mitrovich, there have been four subsequent tributes – at Fenway and the John F. Kennedy Library (as Fenway was underwent renovations in `06). At each of the five tributes Boston school children have been invited as guests of the Red Sox in order that they might learn the life story of an extraordinary man who helped change American society – and change it for the better. The children have heard from those who knew Jackie Robinson and those who have written books about his inspiring life. Mr. Robinson’s daughter, Sharon, spoke at the first birthday ceremony, as did Buck O’Neil, Chairman of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City. Roger Kahn, author of “The Boys of Summer” and a friend of Jackie’s, spoke as well. In subsequent years NPR’s Scott Simon, Orlando Magic executive Pat Williams, and fomer Dodger teamamte, Carl Erskine, all three highly accomplished and authors of books on Jackie’s life, also spoke (Mr. Erskine by video), and made memorable a story too many in today’s America might have missed. At each birthday celebration the children received gifts from the Red Sox, including autographed copies of the authors` books. The occasions will live long in the memories of the Boston school children. The Red Sox’s birthday tributes to Jackie Robinson will continue. Friday, December 1, 2006 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series and the BoSox Proudly Present: Christine Brennan – USA Today Columnist and ABC-Sports/ESPN Commentator Author of and Speaking on: "Best Seat in the House" And: Red Sox President & CEO Larry Lucchino – With a Look to `07 Plus: Poet Laureate Dick Flavin With the Debut of his “Ode to Larry Lucchino” and a Player to be Named Later With the Grand Finale: A Post Program Sing-Along with the Great Dr. Charles Steinberg at the Steinway Boston Baby Grand In other Words – An Unforgettable Night 6:30 PM Dinner Crown Royal Room – Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation and BoSox Members, $65 Non-Members, $75 (autographed copy of Ms. Brennan`s book included) Please note: This event is limited to the first 100 who register. To register click here. Journalist Christine Brennan - USA Today sports columnist and ABC/ESPN television sports analyst - is a leading voice on the Olympics, international sports, women`s sports and other sports issues. Brennan, a staff writer at The Washington Post from 1984-96, was an on-air commentator for ABC News and ESPN television during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, breaking the news of the pairs figure skating scandal at the Games. She also worked for ABC News during the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, the 1998 Winter Games in Nagano and the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Brennan has appeared on a variety of network and cable shows over the past decade, including ESPN`s SportsCenter, Nightline, Good Morning America, World News Tonight and NBC`s Today show. A commentator on National Public Radio`s Morning Edition, Brennan appears regularly on ESPN Radio and WMAL Radio in Washington, D.C. Her sports commentaries appear on-line at usatoday.com. Brennan, who joined USA Today as a columnist in 1997, became the first woman to cover the Washington Redskins in 1985 as a staff writer at The Washington Post. At the Post, she covered the Olympics and international sports, reporting from many nations, including Cuba and the former Soviet Union. Brennan has covered every Olympics since the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Prior to joining the Post, Brennan was the first woman sports writer at The Miami Herald, where she worked from 1981-84. The author of four books, Brennan has won the Women`s Sports Foundation`s journalism award four times, and her work has been featured in various sports anthologies. Her 1998 book Edge of Glory won an Ohioana Library Association book award. In 1993, she was named the Capital Press Women`s "Woman of Achievement." She recently was named one of the top 10 sports columnists in the category of the nation`s largest newspapers by the Associated Press Sports Editors for 2001. A native of Toledo, Ohio, Brennan was inducted into the Ohio Women`s Hall of Fame in 1995. She graduated from Ottawa Hills High School in 1976. In 1988, Brennan was elected the first president of the Association for Women in Sports Media. As president of the nationwide organization, she initiated a scholarship-internship program for college-age women that now honors six students annually. Brennan received undergraduate and master`s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University in 1980 and 1981, respectively. She lives in Washington, D.C. Friday, September 29, 2006 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Roger Kahn -- A Truly Great American Writer Author of and Speaking on: "Into My Own: The Remarkable People and Events That Shaped a Life" 12-Noon Luncheon Crown Royal Room -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation Members, $40 Non-Members, $50 (autographed copy of Mr. Kahn`s book included) To register for this event . Roger Kahn and His Story: Roger Kahn is one of America’s foremost sportswriters. After successful seasons as a newspaperman and magazine writer, he burst onto the national scene in 1972 with his memorable bestseller, "The Boys of Summer"; a book Sports Illustrated called the second best book ever written about sports; a work that went beyond sports and captured the minds and hearts of millions across the country. Now in his eighth decade, Kahn has again written a book for the hearts and minds of his readers. Chronicling his own life, "Into My Own" is Kahn’s reflection on the eight people who shaped him as a man, a father, and a writer. In this poignant self-portrait, Kahn begins with his childhood in Brooklyn, reared on the verses of Homer, Shakespeare, Housman, and Millay---a curriculum set by his mother, and one that would influence his career with words. He combined his intellectual upbringing with his inherent passion for baseball, and began his sportswriting career under the legendary Stanley Woodward at the New York Herald Tribune. This lent Kahn the opportunity to interview and develop friendships with Pee Wee Reese and Jackie Robinson—men he knew and admired for reasons far beyond their baseball abilities. Kahn’s writing is by no means limited to his sports coverage, and on the political front he devotes chapters to Eugene McCarthy and Barry Goldwater, whom he interviewed for the Saturday Evening Post---two diverse men in a turbulent era who championed their distinct versions of idealism. The Post had earlier sent Kahn to interview poet Robert Frost at his home in Vermont, a rare opportunity for any journalist, and one that resulted in the development of a marked friendship between two men of words. Perhaps most touching is his account, straightforward but abrim with love, of the life and death --- at twenty-three --- of his scholar-athlete son, Roger Laurence Kahn. "Into My Own" is the touching memoir of an unassuming man, whose great love of baseball and literature led him into extraordinary experiences, opportunities, and friendships. Even amidst great family tragedy and personal difficulty, Kahn has prevailed---amongst poets, writers, politicians, and most of all, ballplayers. Praise for Roger Kahn: “As a kid, I loved sports first and writing second, and loved everything Roger Kahn wrote. As an adult, I love writing first and sports second, and love Roger Kahn even more.” -- Pulitzer Prize winner, David Maraniss “He can epitomize a player with a single swing of the pen.” -- Time magazine “Roger Kahn is the best baseball writer in the business.” -- Stephen Jay Gould, New York Review of Books “A work of high moral purpose and great poetic accomplishment. The finest American book on sports.” -- James Michener on "The Boys of Summer" “Kahn has the almost unfair gift of easy, graceful writing.” -- Boston Herald Additional Notes on Roger Kahn: Roger Kahn is the author of nineteen books and hundreds of articles in national magazines such as Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Time, and The Saturday Evening Post. He has taught writing at various colleges and lectured at Yale, Princeton, and Columbia. Mr. Kahn held the distinguished position of Ottaway Professor of Journalism at SUNY New Paltz in the spring of 2004. He lives in Stone Ridge, New York, with his wife, the psychotherapist Katharine Johnson. Friday, September 8, 2006 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Leigh Montville Author of and Speaking on: "The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe Ruth", and "Ted Williams: The Biography of an American Hero" 12-Noon Luncheon Crown Royal Room -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) $40 -- Lunch and the Big Bam book $50 -- Lunch, plus the Big Bam and Ted Williams` books (Please specify your choice) Mr. Montville will autograph both books To register for this event please contact Meghan Donovan of the Red Sox at 617-267-9440, or via e-mail: mdonovan@redsox.com. Corporate Event Sponsor: Leigh Montville, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, also served for twenty-one years as a sports columnist for The Boston Globe. His previous books include "Manute: The Center of Two Worlds" and, with Jim Calhoun, "Dare to Dream" (Broadway Books, 1999). Montville lives in Winthrop, Massachusetts. ************* About the Babe Ruth Book -- A Review by Steven V. Roberts: When God created baseball, She fashioned eight teams in each league, none of them south of Washington or west of St. Louis. Then She made Babe Ruth. It wasn`t until the 1950s that the major leagues expanded to the West Coast. But long before that, Ruth had changed the nature of baseball itself, refocusing the sport on outsized homers and heroes and turning it into the national pastime. Babe played his last game in 1935 and died in 1948, the year before I started rooting for the Yankees and watching them play in the House That Ruth Built (so-named by sportswriter Fred Lieb when it opened in 1923). This spring, when the Yanks announced plans for a new stadium, the New York Times described the structure as "an $800 million house that Ruth didn`t build." That`s quite a legacy. Fifty-eight years after his death, Babe Ruth is still a common reference point, one that casual newspaper readers are expected to understand. And they do. Many books have been written about the Babe, focused mainly on his athletic feats. In "The Big Bam" (a version of his famous nickname, "the Bambino"), Leigh Montville, formerly of the Boston Globe and Sports Illustrated, tries to dissect Ruth as a cultural icon, one who dominated American life in the `20s as much as Charles Lindbergh, Al Capone or Henry Ford. And Montville raps the ball sharply, a double off the wall if not a home run. Not only does he detail the impact of the Ruthian legend, he also shows how new developments -- from radio to public relations -- helped spread that legend to the masses. Sportswriter Richards Vidmer recalled traveling with the Babe through rural Illinois: "He was bigger than the president. . . . The train stopped to get water or something. It couldn`t have been a town of more than 5,000 people, and by God, there were 4,000 of them down there standing in the rain, just wanting to see the Babe." Ruth`s story touches the core of an evergreen American myth: the poor boy who makes good. Born in a Baltimore neighborhood called Pigtown, he was tossed away by an alcoholic father and a sickly mother at age 7, raised in a Catholic home for troubled boys and taught to swing a baseball bat by Brother Matthias. He was discovered by Jack Dunn, owner of Baltimore`s minor-league team, who told local sportswriters: "He`ll startle the baseball world, if he isn`t a rummy or he isn`t a nut." Actually he was both, but he startled the world anyway. By 1919 he had made "the home run a new, loud art form" and broken the single-season record of 24, but he was just getting started. Montville points out that Babe played well before steroids were invented, that "beer and scotch and hot dogs were his nutritional supplement of choice." But Ruth had scientific assistance of another sort. Just as his career was taking off, baseball makers started using a new process, and the resulting product -- tighter and springier -- certainly boosted Babe`s banner performance of 60 home runs in 1927. Ruth was fortunate in another way. His first major-league team, the Boston Red Sox, sold him to New York in 1920 at the peak of his powers: "He was a muscle man coming to a muscle city in a muscle time." Eighteen daily papers competed madly for readership. New printing techniques made it possible to splash big pictures across the tabloids, and soon "the Babe was an incorrigible, wondrous part of everyone`s family." The PR industry was just getting started, and an "entrepreneurial fireball" named Christy Walsh took Babe Inc. public, promoting him through barnstorming tours and ghostwritten articles, vaudeville turns and movie roles. And then there was radio, which broadcast the World Series for the first time in 1926 and reached 15 million fans. The result was "the age of new heroes." Heard and seen in entirely new ways, they became "personal, exciting friends" instead of "long-ago characters of mythology." The Babe`s sins were as heroic as his homers. He seemed to pursue every vice at once, with lust and gluttony topping the list. Sportswriters protected him, but the tales of excess still leaked out: two raw steaks or 10 hot dogs eaten in one meal, six women ravished in one night, 22 silk shirts worn and discarded over three steamy days in St. Louis. "I didn`t have a thing till I was 18 years old, not a bite," Ruth once said. "Now it`s bustin` out all over." Yet America still adored him. "The whole world loves a bad boy," wrote the New York World, and that`s true, especially a bad boy who survives his setbacks and seeks redemption. Reading this book I kept thinking about Bill Clinton, who shares Babe`s appetite for hot women and affection for Hot Springs, Ark. (Clinton was raised there; Ruth came for the baths and the booze as well as the babes.) Yet Clinton became president and survived impeachment in part because his transgressions made him human, a "personal, exciting friend" and not just a remote historical figure. Bill and Babe. The Comeback Kid and the Sultan of Swat. God`s hand slipped a bit when She made them both, Hall of Fame sinners as well as sluggers. About the Ted Williams Book: He was The Kid. The Splendid Splinter. Teddy Ballgame. One of the greatest figures of his generation, and arguably the greatest baseball hitter of all time. But what made Ted Williams a legend – and a lightning rod for controversy in life and in death? What motivated him to interrupt his Hall of Fame career twice to serve his country as a fighter pilot; to embrace his fans while tangling with the media; to retreat from the limelight whenever possible into his solitary love of fishing; and to become the most famous man ever to have his body cryogenically frozen after his death? New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville, who wrote the celebrated Sports Illustrated obituary of Ted Williams, now delivers an intimate, riveting account of this extraordinary life. Still a gangly teenager when he stepped into a Boston Red Sox uniform in 1939, Williams’s boisterous personality and penchant for towering home runs earned him adoring admirers--the fans--and venomous critics--the sportswriters. In 1941, the entire country followed Williams`s stunning .406 season, a record that has not been touched in over six decades. At the pinnacle of his prime, Williams left Boston to train and serve as a fighter pilot in World War II, missing three full years of baseball. He was back in 1946, dominating the sport alongside teammates Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, and Bobby Doerr. But Williams left baseball again in 1952 to fight in Korea, where he flew thirty-nine combat missions—crash-landing his flaming, smoke-filled plane, in one famous episode. Ted Willams`s personal life was equally colorful. His attraction to women (and their attraction to him) was a constant. He was married and divorced three times and he fathered two daughters and a son. He was one of corporate America`s first modern spokesmen, and he remained, nearly into his eighties, a fiercely devoted fisherman. With his son, John Henry Williams, he devoted his final years to the sports memorabilia business, even as illness overtook him. And in death, controversy and public outcry followed Williams and the disagreements between his children over the decision to have his body preserved for future resuscitation in a cryonics facility--a fate, many argue, Williams never wanted. With unmatched verve and passion, and drawing upon hundreds of interviews, acclaimed best-selling author Leigh Montville brings to life Ted Williams`s superb triumphs, lonely tragedies, and intensely colorful personality, in a biography that is fitting of an American hero and legend. PRAISE “It is unlikely that any reader could view Ted Williams as just a ballplayer ever again.” — New York Times Book Review “Exceptional. Montville on Ted Williams is can’t-miss, one of America’s best sportswriters weighing in on one of the last century’s most intriguing figures. A great read.” —Chicago Tribune “Leigh Montville reaches a threshold even the mighty Williams could never touch: perfection. The beauty of Montville’s work is that it is not a baseball book, per se, so much as the life and times of an oft perplexing, always fascinating man.” —Newsday “A comprehensive look at a gargantuan life.” —People Friday, July 28, 2006 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Tom Oliphant -- one of America`s most distinguished journalists Author of and Speaking on: "Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family`s Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers" 12-Noon Luncheon Crown Royal Room -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation Members, $40 Non-Members, $50 (autographed copy of Mr. Oliphant`s book included) To register for this event please contact Meghan Donovan of the Red Sox at 617-267-9440, or via e-mail: mdonovan@redsox.com. Thomas Oliphant was The Boston Globe`s special Washington columnist from 1968-2005. A native of Brooklyn, a product of La Jolla High School in San Diego, and a 1967 graduate of Harvard College, he had a long and distinguished career with The Globe. In addition to his reporting from Washington he covered the political, urban and campus unrest of the 1960s. In Washington he wrote about the economy, from Richard Nixon`s wage and price controls to Ronald Reagan`s $200 billion deficits to Bill Clinton`s balanced budget; the energy crisis and its aftermath; the Watergate, Iran-Contra and Clinton scandals, every presidential campaign since 1968 and every White House since Lyndon Johnson`s. Following President Nixon`s resignation, he was one of three editors on special assignment who managed The Globe`s coverage of Boston`s traumatic school desegregation, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1975. He also co-authored a series of special editorials on the energy crisis which was the runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize in 1980. He has also won the writing award given by the American Society of Newspaper Editors, among other official recognitions. He obtained the Pentagon Papers for The Globe in 1971, and his coverage of the occupation of Wounded Knee, South Dakota, in 1973 earned him the Elijah Thomas Lovejoy Award as well as a three-count criminal indictment from the Nixon Justice Department, eventually dismissed. A frequent guest on television, he most recently was the the analyst for the Public Broacasting Service`s live coverage of President Clinton`s impeachment trial with Jim Lehrer. He has also appeared on ABC`s ``Nightline,`` the ``McNeill-Lehrer Report,`` ``Face The Nation,`` ``The Today Show,`` ``Good Morning America`` and ``CBS This Morning.`` His account of the 1988 presidential campaign, ``All By Myself,`` written with Christine Black, was published in 1989. He has been named one of the country`s Top Ten political writers and one of Washington`s 50 most influential journalists by Washington Magazine. Mr. Oliphant lives in Washington with his wife, CBS correspondent Susan Spencer, when they are not growing hay on their farm near Sperryville, Va. While a Dodger fan gowing up in Brooklyn, Mr. Oliphant subsequently became a fan of the Red Sox (his country home in Virginia is called "Fenway"). Tuesday, July 18, 2006 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: The Honorable Stephen Breyer -- Associate Justice, United States Supreme Court Author of and Speaking on: “Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution” 12-Noon Luncheon Crown Royal Room -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation Members, $40 Non-Members, $50 (autographed copies of Justice Breyer`s book included) To register for this event please contact Meghan Donovan of the Red Sox at 617-267-9440, or via e-mail: mdonovan@redsox.com. Stephen Breyer - Biographical Data Birth, Residence, and Family Stephen Breyer was born August 15, 1938, in San Francisco, California, the son of Irving G. Breyer and Anne R. Breyer. He married Joanna Hare, September 4, 1967. They have three children: Chloe (born 1969); Nell (born 1971) and Michael (born 1974). Education Attended public elementary and high schools (Lowell High School) in San Francisco; Stanford University, A.B. 1959, Great Distinction; Oxford University, Magdalen College, Marshall Scholar, B.A., 1st Class Honors, 1961; Harvard Law School, LL.B., magna cum laude, 1964, Harvard Law Review, articles editor. Law Clerkship Clerk to the Honorable Arthur J. Goldberg, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, 1964-1965. Law Teaching Harvard University; Assistant Professor, 1967-1970; Professor of Law, 1970-1980; Professor, Kennedy School of Government, 1977-1980; Lecturer, 1980-present. Visiting Professor, College of Law, Sydney, Australia, 1975; University of Rome, 1993. Judicial Offices Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, December 10, 1980 (nominated by President Carter); Chief Judge, 1990-1994; Associate Justice, Supreme Court of the United States, August 3, 1994 (nominated by President Clinton); Member, Judicial Conference of the United States, 1990-1994; Member, U.S. Sentencing Commission, 1985-1989. Government Service Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General (Antitrust), Department of Justice, 1965-1967; Assistant Special Prosecutor, Watergate Special Prosecution Force, 1973; Special Counsel, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Administrative Practices, 1974-1975; Chief Counsel, U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, 1979-1980. Published Works "Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation" (Harvard University Press (1993), "Regulation and Its Reform" (Harvard University Press (1982), "Administrative Law and Regulatory Policy" (Little Brown 3rd ed. 1992) (with Richard Stewart); "The Federal Power Commission and the Regulation of Energy" (with Paul MacAvoy) (Brookings 1974). Has contributed numerous articles to legal journals primarily on the subjects of administrative law and economic regulation. Civic and Professional Activities Trustee: University of Massachusetts (1974-1981); Trustee: Dana Farber Cancer Institute (1977-____); Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences; American Law Institute, American Bar Association. Recreation Bicycling, jogging, cooking and reading. Friday, June 23, 2006 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Bill "Spaceman" Lee and Joe Castiglione Speaking on their respective books: “Have Glove, Will Travel” and “Broadcast Rites and Sites: I saw it on the Radio with the Boston Red Sox.” 12-Noon Luncheon Crown Royal Room -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation Members, $40 Non-Members, $50 (autographed copies of Mr. Lee`s and Mr. Castiglione`s books included) To register for this event please contact Meghan Donovan of the Red Sox at 617-267-9440, or via e-mail: mdonovan@redsox.com. Bill “Spaceman” Lee, the celebrated philosopher and left-handed pitcher (some may think that an oxymoron), pitched 10 seasons for the Red Sox (1969-78) and was an integral part of the starting rotation during that time. Despite his success on the mound, however, he would become more famous for his eccentric personality than his pitching. On his approach to life and the realm of the mind, Jon Goode, a writer, quotes Mr. Lee: "I don’t ask questions, I answer questions. I do things spontaneously and not pre-meditated. I take things as they come and live my life in the present. What I do everyday is what I want to do." Mr. Lee stays extremely busy. He owns his own bat company in New Brunswick called The Old Bat Company. Odd that, a pitcher owning a bat company, but its part of his undeniable charm. Mr. Lee comes to the series to talk about his books, of which there are three, but with special emphasis upon the third. Joe Castiglione, is in his 23rd season behind the microphone on Red Sox radio. He previously handled play-by-play for the Cleveland Indians on TV in 1979 and 1982 and broadcast the Milwaukee Brewers on TV in 1981. The Hamden, CT native has announced the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, and did college basketball on New England Sports Network for six winters. During the off-season, he teaches broadcast journalism courses at Northeastern University and Franklin Pierce College. Joe also works in fund raising for the Jimmy Fund. Friday, May 12, 2006 The Great Fenway Park Writers Series Proudly Presents: Jackie MacMullan, of The Boston Globe Author of and Speaking on: "Geno : In Pursuit of Perfection" 12-Noon Luncheon Crown Royal Room -- Fenway Park (enter off Brookline Avenue) Red Sox Nation Members, $40 Non-Members, $50 (autographed copy of Ms. MacMullan`s book included) To register for this event please contact Meghan Donovan of the Red Sox at 617-267-9440, or via e-mail: mdonovan@redsox.com. Jackie MacMullan of The Boston Globe speaks Friday, May 12. Ms. MacMullan is the author of a new book on one of sports most fascinating individuals – Geno Auriemma, the hugely successful women’s basketball coach at the University of Connecticut. A former college basketball star, Ms. MacMullan has written what will certainly be the definitive book on the Huskies’ coach. Before joining The Globe as both an editor and sports columnist, she worked for Sports Illustrated. Her two previous books, "Bird Watching : On Playing and Coaching the Game I Love" (co-authored with basketball legend Larry Bird) and "Magic & Bird: Basketball`s Awed Couple", were critically acclaimed. Those who read Ms. MacMullan in The Globe know her interests include more than basketball, as she writes often, and brilliantly, about baseball and the Red Sox. Jackie MacMullan is one extremely engaging and talented human being, as her writing over the years in SI and The Globe have demonstrated. Now, that knowledge is shared by her growing radio and television audience. An autographed copy of Ms. MacMullan`s new book, "Geno : In Pursuit of Perfection", will be given to those who attend the May 12 luncheon. The price to Red Sox Nation members for both the book and baseball buffet will be $40, to non-member, $45.

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