About
I started out writing Language Arts/literature textbooks (Simon & Schuster, McGraw-Hill, Perfection Learning) back in the 1980's. From there, because of the connections I had developed in publishing, I was able to get my foot in the door to jump into my first love in literature - Literary Nonfiction. My first book of LNF, Inman's War: A Soldier's Story of Life in a Colored Battalion in WWII, did very well here and abroad, so I've been doing that type of writing ever since. I most love the travel involved to do the research for my books. Since my stories are fact-based, I have gone to the locations where all have taken place, either to study the geography, visit museums and archives, and when possible to interview people with knowledge of the events. I've met some wonderful people along the way - and some kooks, too. I also write articles for a variety of magazines when I need a break in the action. I also have a day job; I'm a professor of English at a college in the Midwest. I feel blessed because I love both of my worlds - the writing and the teaching.
Featured Work
After Jackie: 15 Pioneers Who Helped Change the Face of Baseball
Most people know the story of Jackie Robinson and his courage and struggles when breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball. However, Jackie was the pioneer for only one of the sixteen teams in Major League Baseball at the time, there being eight each in the National and American Leagues. What about the “other fifteen”? Very few accounts have been written about the groundbreakers for the other fifteen teams, and much of what has been written about them has typically been statistical and chronological descriptions of their careers. While they faced many of the same hurdles and roadblocks placed in front of Jackie, each also had individual twists and turns in his journey as together they joined in the struggle to enact great change. Mr. Robinson took the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers in April of 1947, but it wasn’t until twelve years later that the last team added a person of color (Pumpsie Green, in 1959, for the Boston Red Sox). Twelve years. In this book, the contributions of each of the fifteen and their journeys to the Major Leagues are chronicled.
