Pancho Segura was as good as any other tennis player out there, back when he was at the top of his game in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also handsome, charming both on and off the court, and had an amazing story. Segura was born into a poor family in Ecuador and happened to live near a tennis court, where his skill – even as a skinny, undernourished kid — didn’t go unnoticed. A combination of luck and skill landed him in the United States, where he played briefly in college, went pro, traveled the world, and then became a coach to the stars.

But Segura never won any of the major tournaments – he went pro before he had a chance to do so, and at the time, Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the like were only open to amateurs. And perhaps for that reason, he isn’t as well remembered as some of his contemporaries.

But after Saturday, a few more people likely know his name. Little Pancho: The Story of Tennis Legend Pancho Segura, was featured on NPR’s Only a Game this weekend. Author Caroline Seebohm chatted with host Bill Littlefield about Pancho’s early years in Ecuador, as well as his years spent playing professional tennis at a time when the sport was changing fast. Click here to listen.

UNP books were all over the news this Memorial Day weekend. A biography of Henry’s James’ sister-in-law, Alice James, made the most recent edition of the New York Review of Books. The review of Alice in Jamesland, by Susan E. Gunter, is here.

Our big, beautiful new book, American Quilts in the Modern Age 1870-1940, made the Lincoln Journal Star. The article is here.

The New Have Review credited Brave Men, by Ernie Pyle, as an important book in revealing the details of day to day life – both the mundane and the horrifying – for soldiers during WWII. Click here to read.

And a poem by and interview with Mari L’Esperance are featured on the Web site How a Poem Happens.