Today is the start of the 2012 Olympics in London and one UNP author is already a strong advocate of one of the competitions: women's soccer. Tim Grainey, author of Beyond Bend It Like Beckham, is a sports journalist who has wrote extensively on soccer for World Football Pages, Soccer365.com and more. Recently, Grainey met another soccer fanatic in his area who shared his love of the sport. Check out the azcentral.com story "2 Southeast Valley soccer fanatics/writers meet for first time" to find out who. Continue reading Let the ceremonies begin!

Today is the start of Buffalo Bill Days in Golden, Colo. It's three days of activities celebrating Buffalo Bill including live music and a "Best of the West" parade.  Click here for information. For more Buffalo Bill, check out forthcoming title Buffalo Bill from Prairie to Palace by John M. Burke, edited by Chris Dixon.  It's a critical edition of Burke's 1893 book that established the legend of Buffalo Bill Cody as a frontier hero. Continue reading Celebrate Buffalo Bill in Colorado

Suzanne Roberts, author of forthcoming Almost Somewhere, was interviewed by Hanna Brooks Olsen from Blisstree. Click here to read Roberts' thoughts on hiking, nature and the female body. Continue reading Roberts interview

Robert W. Creamer, author of Stengel (pictured to the left) and Baseball and Other Matters in 1941, passed away last Wednedsay. He wrote acclaimed biographies of Babe Ruth and Casey Stengel and joined Sports Illustrated as one of its first writers. Read more about the life of Creamer in The New York Times. Continue reading Robert W. Creamer dies at 90

Get ready for the Olympics by grabbing a new book! Something in the Air is Richard Hoffer’s gripping sports narrative that tells the stories of the individual athletes and cultural, social, and political drama surrounding the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Native American Son by Kate Buford is the first comprehensive biography of the legendary figure who defined excellence in American sports: Jim Thorpe, arguably the greatest all-around athlete in U.S. history. And new in paperback, Carson Cunningham presents a kaleidoscopic picture of the evolution into the twenty-first century of one of America’s most popular sports: Olympic Basketball, in American Hoops. … Continue reading Olympic books from UNP

The opening ceremony is next week and all the world will be watching the greatest athletes compete for the Gold. In 1912, Jim Thorpe won the gold medal in the decathlon. He also won the gold medal in the Classic Pentathlon, which was discontinued after the 1924 Games. Because of the discontinuation, he is the only Olympian to have ever won both events. In Native American Son, Kate Buford traces the pivotal moments of Thorpe’s incomparable career, while recounting the difficulties he faced as a Native American. The 2012 Decathlon, which is a two day event, will start on August 8 and the … Continue reading Countdown to London: 10 days

Forthcoming from UNP in paperback is Hard Hitting Songs for Hard-Hit People compiled by Alan Lomax. Twenty-seven years in the making (1940–67), this tapestry of nearly two hundred American popular and protest songs was created by three giants of performance and musical research: Alan Lomax, indefatigable collector and preserver; Woody Guthrie, performer and prolific balladeer; and Pete Seeger, entertainer and educator who has introduced three generations of Americans to their musical heritage. In addition to 123 photographs and 195 songs, this edition features an introductory note by Nora Guthrie, the daughter of Woody Guthrie and overseer of the Woody Guthrie Foundation.   … Continue reading Happy Birthday to Woodie Guthrie!

Today photographer Michael Forsberg's On Anicent Wings received a high reccommendation from The Great American Landscape blog. Rick Braveheart said, "Forsberg has an exceptional talent not only for making exquisite photographs but for capturing images that also tell stories and evoke emotions." Click here to read the full review. Braveheart has also reviewed Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky by Joel Sartore Along the Edge of Daylight by Georg Joutras. Read those reviews here. Continue reading Forsberg’s book a must read