Howard Blue's

To read reviews about a book or order it, click on its title. To quickly reach one of the subtopics immediately below, click on it.

Automobile Racing

Gordon, Jeff.  Jeff Gordon: Racing Back to the Front, My Memoir. Atria Books, 2003.  By the NASCAR celebrity.

Miller, Leonard W. Silent Thunder: Breaking Through Cultural, Racial, and Class Barriers in Motor Sports. Red Sea Press, 2004.  A manager of African-American racing teams, on his forty-year career.   

Zandari, Alex. Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage. Bentley Publishers, 2003.  By the Italian racing driver who continues to race after a crash resulted in amputation of both legs.    

Baseball

Anson, Adrian Constantine.  A Ball Player’s Career.  BiblioBazaar, 2009.  The professional ballplayer who played twenty-seven consecutive seasons remembers his life and career.   
Bean, Billy and Bull, Chris.  Going the Other Way: Lessons From a Life In and Out of Major League Baseball.  Da Capo, 2004.  A professional baseball player remembers his life and coming out as a gay athelete.   

Boston, Talmage. Baseball and the Baby Boomer: A History, Commentary, and Memoir. Bright Sky Pr., 2009.  

Brown, Patricia I.  A League of My Own: Memoir of a Pitcher for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. MacFarland & Company, 2003.  One of the few women in the National Baseball Hall of Fame remembers the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.   

Cobb, Ty.  My Twenty Years in Baseball.  Ed. William R. Cobb.  Dover, 2009.  The famous ballplayer recalls his controversial life.   

Feller, Bob and Gilbert, Bill.  Now Pitching, Bob Feller: A Baseball Memoir.  Citadel, 2002.  Feller remembers his life as the first ballplayer to enlist in the Navy during WWII and his relationship with Jackie Robinson.   

Jolley, Marc A.  Safe at Home: A Memoir of God, Baseball, and Family.  Mercer University Press, 2005.   

Kaiser, Ken and David Fisher.  Planet of the Umps: A Baseball Life From Behind the Plate.  St. Martin’s, 2004.  The famous umpire’s memories of his life and career in baseball and pro-wrestling.   

Lewis, Michael. Coach: Lessons on the Game of Life. W.W. Norton & Co., Inc., 2008. Author remembers his New Orleans high school baseball coach.  

Mayer, Robert.  Notes of a Baseball Dreamer: A Memoir.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003.  By a baseball sportswriter.   

Mickelson, Edward A. Out of the Park: Memoir of a Minor League Baseball Allstar. McFarland & Co, 2007.  

Oliphant, Thomas. Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family's Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers. St. Martin's Griffin, 2005. Oliphant’s account as a star first baseman for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

O’Neill, Molly.  Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball.  Scribner, 2008.  New York Times food writer discusses her family, including her brother, Yankee ballplayer Paul O’Neill, and her career in food.   

O’Neill, Paul.  Me and My Dad: A Baseball Memoir.  Harper, 2004.  By the Yankee right-fielder.  

Ortiz, David.  Big Papi.  St. Martin’s Press, 2007.  By the Red Sox player who helped win the World Series. 

Pedroia, Dustin.  Born to Play: My Life in the Game.  Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009.  By the award-winning Boston Red Sox player.   

Peterson, Fritz.  Mickey Mantle is Going to Heaven.  Outskirts Press, 2009.  Former Yankee pitcher makes 1973 trade that damages his career: he and teammate trade wives.  

Shaughnessy, Dan.  Senior Year: A Father, A Son, and High School Baseball.  Mariner, 2008. 

Vincent, Fay. The Last Commissioner: A Baseball Valentine. Simon and Schuster, 2007.  The commissioner recounts his career and baseball history.   

Wilber, Rick. My Father's Game: Life, Death, Baseball. McFarland & Co., 2008. A professional baseball player becomes the primary care taker for his dying father, also a retired professional ballplayer.   

Wolff, John and Rick Wolff.  Harvard Boys: A Father and Son's Adventures Playing Minor League Baseball.  Skyhorse, 2007.  By a father and son who left Harvard to play in the minor leagues for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.

Basketball

Allred, Lance.  Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA.  HarperOne, 2009.   

Auriemma, Geno.  Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection.  Grand Central Publishing, 2009.  By the successful women’s basketball coach at the University of Conneticut.   

Hobson, Fred C. Off the Rim: Basketball and Other Religions in a Carolina Childhood.  University of Missouri Press, 2006.  A literature professor’s account of growing up in the south during the 1950’s and being a basketball fan.   

Lee, Spike and Wiley, Ralph.  Best Seat in the House:  A Basketball Memoir.  Crown Publishers, 1997. The famous filmmaker’s lifelong love of basketball.   

Leslie, Lisa.  Don't Let The Lipstick Fool You: The Making of a Champion.  Dafina, 2008.  By the three-time Olympic gold medalist and MVP of the WMBA.   

Olsen, Lute.  Lute!: The Seasons of My Life.  Thomas Dunne Books, 2006.  A coach for fifty years, on basketball and the death of his wife.   

Raisor, Philip.  Outside Shooter:  A Memoir.  University of Missouri Press, 2003.  A professional basketball player’s experiences with race and basketball in the 1950s.  

Ramsay, Dr. Jack.  Dr. Jack's Leadership Lessons Learned From a Lifetime in Basketball.  Wiley, 2004.  By the ESPN basketball analyst and former coach.   

Reynolds, Bill.  Glory Days: A Basketball Memoir.  St. Martin’s Griffin, 1999.  A college basketball player becomes a sportswriter.   

Russell, Bill and Alain Steinberg.  Red and Me: My Coach, My Lifelong Friend.  Harper, 2009.  The star center remembers his coach and friend.   

Shirley, Paul.  Can I Keep My Jersey? 11 Teams, 5 Countries, and 4 Years in My Life as a Basketball Vagabond.  Villard, 2008.  By the sportswriter and once professional basketball player.   

Stringer, C. Vivian and Tucker, Laura.  Standing Tall:  A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph.  Crown, 2008.  The head coach of the Rutger’s women’s basketball team tells of personal tragedies and successes.  

Boxing

Ali, Muhammad and Ali, Hana. The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey. Simon & Schuster, 2004. The boxing legend on boxing and his spiritual journey.   

de la Hoya, Oscar. American Son: My Story. HarperCollins, 2008. By the Mexican-American boxer, winner of the U.S.’s only gold medal in boxing.   

Torrey, Joey and Biel, Joe. Bamboozled: The Joey Torrey Story. Microcosm, 2008.  By a now imprisoned L.A. boxer and FBI collaborator.   

Wiley, Ralph. Serenity: A Boxing Memoir. Holt, 1989.  By the successful contributor to Sports Illustrated and ESPN.    

Canoeing & Kayaking

Berman, Tao and Withers, Pam. Going Vertical: The Life of an Extreme Kayaker. Menasha Ridge Press, 2008.   

Browning, Peter. The Last Wilderness: 600 Miles by Canoe and Portage in the Northwest Territories. Great West Books, 1989.   

Dennis, Jerry and Wolff, Glenn. From a Wooden Canoe: Reflections on Canoeing, Camping, and Classic Equipment. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2000.   

Lane, Barry L. and Raisl, Jodi L. It's Uphill Most of the Way Down. Tate Publishing, 2009.  On Lane’s canoe trip of over 5,000 through the Arctic Circle.   

Manuel, John. The Canoeist: A Memoir. Jefferson Press, 2006.

Cycling

Landis, Floyd and Mooney, Loren. Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France. Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007. By the 2006 winner, in response to accusations of banned substance use.   

Sore, David. A Journey Round the World: A Cycling Memoir. Matador, 2009. On the author’s world tour in 1966.    

Fishing

Abbott, Keith. Downstream from Trout Fishing in America: Memoir of Richard Brautigan. Capra Press, 1989.  By a friend of the novelist/satirist.   

Bentos, Carlos. A Crew of One. Tarcher, 2008.  Bentos describes his life as one of the only solo deep-sea fishermen.   

Bias, Wallace W. Fishing with my Father.  Langdon Street Press, 2008.    Brown, Andrew. Fishing in Utopia: Sweden and the Future that Disappeared.  Granta UK, 2009.  On fishing and the author’s life in Sweden.   

Hemingway, Lorian. Walk on Water: A Memoir. Mariner Books, 1999.  Hemingway’s granddaughter on fishing as a refuge from a life of alcoholism and abuse.   

Iaconelli, Mike, Kamenetzky, Brian and Kamenetzky, Andrew. Fishing on the Edge. Delacorte Press, 2005.  By the winner of the 2003 Bassmaster Classic fishing competition.   

Kopple, William J. Vande. The Catch: Families, Fishing, and Faith.  Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2004.   

Kreh, Lefty and Millard, Chris. My Life Was This Big: And Other True Fishing Tales. Skyhorse Publishing, 2008.  From a fly-fisherman who fished with Hemingway and Castro.   

Macpherson, Malcolm, Hillstrand, Andy and Hillstrand, Johnathan. Time Bandit: Two Brothers, the Bering Sea, and One of the World's Deadliest Jobs. Ballantine Books, 2008.  From the captains on reality show The Deadliest Catch.   

Monninger, Joseph. Home Waters: Fishing with an Old Friend: A Memoir.  Broadway, 2000.  On the author’s fishing travels with his dog, Nellie.   

Moses, Ed. Pilgrimage with Fish: A Fishing Memoir.  New Rivers Press, 2004.   

Plummer, William. Wishing My Father Well: A Memoir of Fathers, Sons, and Fly-Fishing. Overlook Hardcover, 2000.  A former People magazine editor recounts how fly-fishing helped him through difficult life events.   

Raines, Howell. The One that Got Away.  Scribner, 2006.  The Pulitzer-prize winning journalist on his life, career, and fishing.   

Raymond, Steve. Rivers of the Heart: A Fly-Fishing Memoir.  Lyons Press, 1998.  By the former editor of Fly-fisher magazine.   

Salzberg, Charles. The Mad Fisherman: Kick Some Bass with America’s Wildest TV Host.  St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009.  By the host of ESPN’s Beat Charlie Moore Show.   

Thomas Jr., E. Donnall. Redfish, Bluefish, Sheefish, Snook: Far-Flung Tales of Fly-Fishing Adventure. 2007.  Skyhorse Publishing, 2007.   

Ureneck, Lou. Backcast: Fatherhood, Fly-fishing, and a River Journey Through the Heart of Alaska. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009.  On Ureneck’s Alaskan fishing trip with his teenage son.    

Football

Cowser, Bob Jr.  Dream Season: A Professor Joins America's Oldest Semi-Pro Football Team.  Grove, 2005.  Story of a thirty-year-old professor who relives his high school football fame by joining the Watertown Red & Black.   

Dungy, Tony and Nathan Whitaker. Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life.  Tyndale House, 2008.  By the first African-American football coach to win the Super Bowl.   

Dunn, Warrick.  Running for My Life: My Journey in the Game of Football and Beyond.  HarperCollins, 2009.  By the star running back, about his career and his mother’s death.   

Fatsis, Stefan.  A Few Seconds of Panic: A Sportswriter Plays in the NFL.  Penguin, 2009.  On Fatsis’s season training with the Denver Broncos.   

Flynt, Mike.  The Senior: My Amazing Year as a 59-Year-Old College Football Linebacker. 

Thomas Nelson, 2008.  A sports-equipment company owner returns to college to play his fourth year of college football.   

Jones, Adam.  Rose Bowl Dreams: A Memoir of Faith, Family, and Football.  St. Martin’s Press, 2009.  By a University of Texas football player.   

Manning, Archie, Peyton Manning and John Underwood.  Manning.  HarperEntertainment, 2001.  Life stories of the famous father and son.   

Moon, Warren and Don Yeager.  Never Give Up on Your Dream: My Journey.  Da Capo, 2009.  By the only African-American quarterback in the NFL Hall of Fame.   

Rom, Steve and Rod Payne.  Centered By a Miracle: A True Story of Friendship, Football and Life.  Sports Publishing, 2006.  On the friendship between Super Bowl champion Rod Payne and sportswriter Steve Rom when Rom is diagnosed with cancer.   

Rooney, Dan; Masich, Andrew E.; and Halaas, David F.  My 75 Years With the Pittsburgh Steelers and the NFL.  Da Capo, 2008.  Life story of the Pittsburg Steelers manager.   

St. Amant, Mark.  Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie.  Scribner, 2005.  On the author’s decision to quit his job and pursue fantasy football full-time.   

Tomlinson, Loreane.  LT & Me: What Raising a Champion Taught Me about Life, Faith, and Listening to Your Dreams.  Tyndale House Publishers, 2009.  The mother of NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson on her son’s childhood and early football career.

General

Broun, Heywood Hale. A Studied Madness: A Sportswriter Turned Actor Takes a Look at His Two Worlds and Some Other Planets. Doubleday, 1965. Gliding

Miller, Charles Vernon. Smooth Sailing, A Glider Pilot Memoir. The Peppertree Press, 2008.    

Hockey

Beliveau, Jean, Chrys Goyens and Allan Turowetz.  My Life in Hockey.  Greystone, 2005.  By the captain of the Montreal Canadiens during some of the teams most successful years.   
Cherry, Don.  Don Cherry's Hockey Stories and Stuff.  McClelland & Stewart, 2009.  By the celebrated hockey coach.   

Esposito, Phil and Peter Golenbock.  Thunder And Lightning: A No-B.S. Hockey Memoir.  McClelland and Stewart, 2003.   

Falla, Jack.  Open Ice: Reflections and Confessions of a Hockey Lifer.  Wiley, 2008.  By an NHL sportswriter.   

Howe, Gordie and Frank Condron.  Gordie Howe: My Hockey Memories.  Firefly, 1999.  By the recent NHL recipient for Lifetime Achievement.   

Kennedy, Brian.  Growing Up Hockey: The Life and Times of Everyone Who Ever Loved the Game.  Folklore Publishing, 2007.  By a sports and automotives journalist.  

Mellanby, Ralph. Walking with Legends. Key Porter Books, 2008.  By the longtime hockey sportscaster.   

Scapinello, Ray and Rob Simpson.  Between the Lines: Not-So-Tall Tales From Ray "Scampy" Scapinello's Four Decades in the NHL.  Wiley, 2007.  By the well-known hockey official.     

Horse racing

Mooney, Nan. My Racing Heart: The Passionate World of Thoroughbreds and the Track. It Books, 2003.  By a horse racing journalist on her life in the racing world.   

Callander, Ken. Good Luck and Good Punting. Pan Macmillan, 2007.  About his long career as a horseracing journalist and commentator.   

Klein, Michael. Track Conditions: A Memoir. Ballantine Books, 1998.  The now poet on his past as a racehorse groomer and alcoholic.    

Misc.

Freedman, Lew.  One Second To Glory : The Alaska Adventures Of Iditarod Champion Dick Mackey : Memoir.  Epicenter Press/Alaska Book Adventures, 2001.   

Snow, Randy and Moore, Bal.  Pushing Forward:  A Memoir of Motivation.  Kendall/Hunt Publishing, 2001.  Disabled athlete and motivational speaker tells his story.  

Mountain Climbing

Steele, Peter. Doctor on Everest: A Memoir of the Ill-Fated 1971 International Everest Expedition. Raincoast Books, 2005.   

Washburn, Barbara, The Accidental Adventurer: Memoir of the First Woman to Climb Mount McKinley. Epicenter Press, 2001.   

Running

Murakami, Haruki. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir. Knopf, 2008.  The novelist on his life habit of long-distance running.   

Switzer, Kathrine. Marathon Woman: Running the Race to Revolutionize Women's Sports. Carroll & Graf, 2007.  By the female runner attacked while running the 1967 Boston Marathon, then an all-male race.

Sailing

Bernardin, Guy and McGeary, Jeremy. Sailing Around the World: A Family Retraces Joshua Slocum's Voyage. Sheridan House, 2002.  A French racing sailor journeys for three years with his wife and 3-year-old son.   

Cameron, Silver Donald. Sailing Away from Winter: A Cruise from Nova Scotia to Florida and Beyond. Douglas Gibson Books, 2007.   

Esarey, Janna Cawrse. The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman's Search for the Meaning of Wife. Touchstone, 2009.  On the author’s 21/2 year sailing honeymoon.   

Giesemann, Suzanne. Living A Dream: A Journey from Aide to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 9/11 to Full-Time Cruiser. Paradise Cay Publications, 2008.   

Hulsizer, Elsie. Voyages to Windward: Sailing Adventures on Vancouver Island's West Coast. Harbour, 2005. 

Jourdane, John. Sailing with Scoundrels and Kings. Cape Horn Press, 2006.  On the author’s 45 years of sailing.

Kahn, E. M. Deep Water: A Sailor's Passage. Haworth Press, 2005.  About small boat sailing in New York waterways with the author’s gay lover.

Lewis, Gwyneth. Two in a Boat: The True Story of a Marital Rite of Passage. HarperCollins, 2006.  About Lewis’s sailing trip to Brazil with her older husband.   

Merrick, Elliott. Cruising At Last: Sailing the East Coast. The Lyons Press, 2005.    

Schaefer, Dave. Sailing to Hemingway's Cuba. Sheridan House, 2000.   

Silverwood, John and Silverwood, Jean. Black Wave: A Family's Adventure at Sea and the Disaster That Saved Them. Random House, 2008.  About the family of six’s crash on a coral reef and rescue.   

Slocum, Captain Joshua and Sklar, Alan. Sailing Alone Around the World. Shambhala, 2005.    

Sullaway, Neva. Chasing Dreamtime: A Sea-Going Hitchhiker's Journey through Memory and Myth. Brookview Press, 2007.  On the author’s post-college and post-divorce sailing trip in the South Pacific.   

Vann, David. A Mile Down: The True Story of a Disastrous Career at Sea. Da Capo Press, 2005.  About Vann’s shipwreck in the Caribbean.    

Soccer

Joyce, Graham.  Simple Goalkeeping Made Spectacular: A Riotous Footballing Memoir About the Loneliest Position on the Field.  Mainstream, 2009.  A 52-year-old sportswriter is called out of retirement for the World Cup.   

Ward, Andrew.  Armed With a Football: Memoir of Tim Ward, Footballer and Father.  Crowberry, 1994.

Swimming

Cox, Lynne.  Swimming to Antarctica: Tales of a long-distance swimmer.  Harcourt, 2005.    

Tennis

Ashe, Arthur. Days Of Grace: A Memoir. Ballantine Books, 1993.  By the famous tennis player and activist.   

Brown, Tom and Lee Tyler.  As Tom Goes by: A Tennis Memoir.  Daniel & Daniel, 2007.  By the WWII veteran and 1946 Wimbledon winner.   

Ritzenberg, Allie.  Capital Tennis: A Memoir.  Francis Press, 2004.  By the founder of the St. Alban’s Tennis Club in Washington, D.C.   

Seles, Monica.  Getting a Grip: On My Body, My Mind, Myself.  Avery, 2009.  Former tennis player on her struggle with binge eating and depression.   

Track and field

Martin, Paul.  One Man's Leg.  GreyCore Press, 2002.  Young man loses the lower half of his left leg but goes on to become a world champion triathlete and Paralympic competitor.  

Murakami, Haruki and Gabriel, J. Philip. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.  Vintage Canada, 2009.  Japanese novelist writes about running and how his lifestyle has improved.

Wrestling

Hogan, Hulk and Dagostino, Mark.  My Life Outside the Ring.  St. Martin’s Press, 2009.

Irving, John. The Imaginary Girlfriend: A Memoir. Black Swan, 1996.  The award-winning novelist on his college wrestling days.

Piper, Roddy and Picarello, Robert.  In the Pit with Piper:  Roddy Gets Rowdy.  Berkley Trade, 2002.  The wrestler on his rise to fame