Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter

Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter

<DIV><I>Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter</I> is as unconventional and wide-ranging as Frank Deford’s remarkable career, in which he has chronicled the heroes and the characters of just about every sport in nearly every medium. Deford joined <I>Sports Illustrated</I> in 1962, fresh, and fresh out of Princeton. In 1990, he was Editor-in-Chief of <I>The National Sports Daily</I>, one of the most ambitious—and ill-fated—projects in the history of American print journalism. But then, he’s endured: writing ten novels, winning an Emmy (not to mention being a fabled Lite Beer All-Star), and last week he read something like his fourteen-hundredth commentary on NPR’s “Morning Edition.”<BR><BR>From the Mad Men-like days of <I>SI</I> in the ‘60s, and the “bush” years of the early NBA, to Deford’s visit to apartheid South Africa with Arthur Ashe, and his friend’s brave and tragic death, <I>Over Time</I> is packed with intriguing people and stories. Interwoven through his personal history, Deford lovingly traces the entire arc of American sportswriting from the lurid early days of the <I>Police Gazette</I>, through Grantland Rice and Red Smith and on up to ESPN. This is a wonderful, inspired book—equal parts funny and touching—a treasure for sports fans. Just like Frank Deford.<BR><BR><BR><B>Praise for <I>Over Time</I></B><BR><BR>“Equal doses of self-deprecating humor and anecdotal history of American sports journalism are the essence of Frank Deford's entertaining new memoir.”—<I>Chicago Tribune</I><BR><BR>“Deford is the Holy Grail. He's simply one of the greatest sportswriters of all time. ... [<I>Over Time</I>] has a little bit of everything -- great stories about interviewing everyone from Richard Nixon … to Jerry Jones. … Deford played with the Harlem Globetrotters, introduced the world to Bill Bradley, really disliked Rodney Dangerfield, edited the only national sports daily in our history (<I>The National</I>), and has great takes on the history and characters of <I>Sports Illustrated</I> in its formative years. . . . Deford's the best.”—Peter King, <I>SI.com</I><BR><BR>“He sketches insightful remembrances of stars like Wilt Chamberlain and Billie Jean King and lavishes affection and admiration on <I>Sports Illustrated</I> colleagues Andre Laguerre, Dan Jenkins, and the ‘tortured’ writer Mark Kram … [Deford is] sports writing's Sinatra.” —<I>San Francisco Chronicle</I><BR><BR>“Endearing... <I>Over Time</I> imparts a sense of a life well lived and fully enjoyed.”—<I>New York Times</I><BR><BR>"The mixture of homage to sportswriters who came before him, such as Grantland Rice; sometimes wistful vignettes of sports figures like Arthur Ashe; and his own personal reflections on the evolution of sports journalism combine to offer a cultural perspective that transcends a mere job." —<I>Publishers Weekly</I> (Top 10 in Sports)<BR><BR>"Deford's cred is incredible, his accolades deserved... He does not pull a punch when it comes to boxing or even to the tastes-great, less-filling Miller Lite commercials he once made... [Deford] has long been the genuine article." —<I>Los Angeles Times</I><BR><BR>“A cool ride through Deford’s career.”— <I>Minneapolis Star-Tribune</I><BR><BR>“Frank Deford is the best there is. His memoir <I>Over Time</I> is beautiful, funny, poignant and poetic.” —Buzz Bissinger, author of <I>Friday Night Lights</I> and <I>Father's Day</I><BR><BR>“A wonderful book. <I>Over Time</I> is both a treasure and a treasury.”—Sally Jenkins, <I>Washington Post</I> columnist and <I>New York Times</I> bestselling author of <I>It’s Not About the Bike</I><BR><BR>“Frank Deford is the best sportswriter I’ve ever read. If there’s a Mount Rushmore of sportswriting, Deford is up there, purple ties and all.”—Tony Kornheiser</DIV>