Author Oscar Robertson will be making another trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame, this time to be inducted with his Olympic teammates.  In a recent New York Times article, Robertson writes about the 1960 Olympic gold medal winning basketball team that he co-captained, a team he calls “the original Dream Team.”  He credits coach Pete Newel (subject of A Good Man: The Pete Newell Story by Bruce Jenkins) for helping the team of college athletes beat the establishment, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), and for the first time change how American basketball was represented abroad.  The team will be inducted … Continue reading Author, Teammates to be inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame

World War II ended in August 1945, but its impacts are not forgotten 65 years later.  To remember the sacrifices of the soldier and the citizen, the Press is having a World War II sale.  Now through August 31st, you can save 25 percent on books that show the truly global influence of World War II.   To hear directly from one soldier, read In the Neighborhood of Zero: A World War II Memoir by William V. Spanos.  Taken prisoner during the Battle of the Bulge, then marched and transported by freight train to Dresden, Spanos recalls the experience of being a … Continue reading World War II sale

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson may pardon Billy the Kid — not because he disputes the Kid’s outlaw ways, but because another governor had promised to issue a pardon, according to this CNN story. Nearly 130 years after Billy the Kid’s death, the possible pardon is still stirring up controversy, even though no one disputes that Billy the Kid, also known as Henry McCarty, Henry Antrim, Kid Antrim, Billy Bonney, was, indeed, an outlaw. But do you know what crimes he committed that led to outlaw status? Didn’t think so. Shortly after Billy the Kid’s death, at the age of … Continue reading A pardon for Billy the Kid?

I wrote a few weeks back that Ceiling of Sticks by Shane Book is the first ever pick for The Rumpus Poetry Book Club (yay!) I’m sure that poetry-loving readers of this blog have already joined the club, but if not, this post, which appeared on The Rumpus last week, explaining why Ceiling of Sticks was chosen, ought to convince you.  Truly pan-national in its focus, these poems draw on a broader array of experiences than an ESL classroom near a meat packing plant.  As are several of the collection’s poems, the book’s title is inspired by a gorgeous and evocative … Continue reading The poetry post