Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Fridays with Red"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Fridays with Red"
Bob Edwards hosted the National Public Radio morning show for years. For 12 of those years, baseball broadcaster Red Barber joined Edwards once a week for an over-the-fence conversation on subjects that ranged from the Brooklyn Dodgers to bird watching to blooming flowers. Barber was retired in Florida during this time. He had concluded one of the most storied broadcast careers in history. For more than 60 years, Barber's voice was as familiar to sports fans, especially those in Brooklyn, as...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "If Beale Street Could Talk"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Let's hit the books with one of this country's most influential writers on matters of race relations in the United States - James Baldwin. "If Beale Street Could Talk" was written in 1974, but it could have been written today, and we would recognize the story as one of current events. A young black man is wrongly charged with rape and the story of his fight for freedom is told through the eyes of his pregnant fiancée. The characters are painfully real without exaggeration. One feels the...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Return of George Washington"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Return of George Washington"
There is a time in U.S. history that we generally take for granted, if we think of it at all. This nation defines its early history through the Revolutionary War and the goings on in Philadelphia in 1776. Despite that history, the United States almost wasn't. In 1787, when the constitutional convention met, the very idea of united states was in issue. Rather than rework the Articles of Confederation, the founding fathers took the convention in a different direction, with great controversy in...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die"
Quite simply, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die" is a must-read for Orioles fans and for those who just love good baseball stories. This is part of a series of books on sports teams by writers from various major league cities. Connolly, the national baseball writer and Orioles reporter for The Baltimore Sun, seeks to recap the history of the franchise, highlight major and minor figures in Orioles history, and recite some of the best Orioles stories. He does so with...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Bank Shot"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Bank Shot"
In case this is the first time you've found our blog, welcome! Once a week, we take a look at a book that is a favorite of mine that helps eat up all that baseball travel time. The Enoch Pratt Free Library lends us a hand with recommendations from their staff, we note others sites that offer suggestions and, thanks to you, we have recommendations in the comments section. Thanks for that. Generally, you don't figure to be lying on the floor and laughing your head off when you read a mystery...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Kid"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Kid"
There will be books written about baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams for as long as the printing presses roll. Williams provided a lot of material in a life filled with his baseball superstar status, turbulent private life, running quarrels with the Boston baseball press and cryogenic ending. In "The Kid," Ben Bradlee Jr. left none of that life untouched in this can't-wait-to-turn-the-page read. Check out the accompanying video for more on "The Kid." A shout out to the Selby Public...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Crazy Horse - A Life"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Crazy Horse - A Life"
Crazy Horse is a name that evokes the history of Native Americans in the western United States at a time when they were being pushed from their lands, and the violence between U.S. troops and numerous tribes was ongoing. Among the most noted of all chiefs, Crazy Horse's life is tough to recreate. Larry McMurtry tried to do just that in "Crazy Horse - A Life," written in 1999. The writing is suburb. The story is engrossing. Check out the video for more on the book. I am delighted the Enoch...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Old Man and the Sea"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Old Man and the Sea"
In my 30 years of broadcasting Major League Baseball, there have been far too many plane rides, far too many delays and what could have been, far too many wasted hours. Thank heavens, since the earliest years, I have loved to read. Books are friends to me. Libraries are where those friends live. I engage both as often as possible in my travels. Just for fun, with the help of some friends at MASN (the human kind) and the wonderful folks at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, we begin...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Truman"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Truman"
David McCullough is my favorite historical writer and one of my favorite writers, period. I could have picked any of his works to mention here and been positive on all, but "Truman" was a delayed read for me and I just finished it. President Harry S. Truman was unique and appears even moreso today. Plain speaking and a common touch are not exactly words we use describing most current politicians. This book covers Truman's life from first breath to end. As McCullough told the New York Times...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Fridays with Red"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Fridays with Red"
Bob Edwards hosted the National Public Radio morning show for years. For 12 of those years, baseball broadcaster Red Barber joined Edwards once a week for an over-the-fence conversation on subjects that ranged from the Brooklyn Dodgers to bird watching to blooming flowers. Barber was retired in Florida during this time. He had concluded one of the most storied broadcast careers in history. For more than 60 years, Barber's voice was as familiar to sports fans, especially those in Brooklyn, as...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "If Beale Street Could Talk"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "If Beale Street Could Talk"
Let's hit the books with one of this country's most influential writers on matters of race relations in the United States - James Baldwin. "If Beale Street Could Talk" was written in 1974, but it could have been written today, and we would recognize the story as one of current events. A young black man is wrongly charged with rape and the story of his fight for freedom is told through the eyes of his pregnant fiancée. The characters are painfully real without exaggeration. One feels the...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Return of George Washington"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Return of George Washington"
There is a time in U.S. history that we generally take for granted, if we think of it at all. This nation defines its early history through the Revolutionary War and the goings on in Philadelphia in 1776. Despite that history, the United States almost wasn't. In 1787, when the constitutional convention met, the very idea of united states was in issue. Rather than rework the Articles of Confederation, the founding fathers took the convention in a different direction, with great controversy in...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die"
Quite simply, "100 Things Orioles Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die" is a must-read for Orioles fans and for those who just love good baseball stories. This is part of a series of books on sports teams by writers from various major league cities. Connolly, the national baseball writer and Orioles reporter for The Baltimore Sun, seeks to recap the history of the franchise, highlight major and minor figures in Orioles history, and recite some of the best Orioles stories. He does so with...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Bank Shot"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Bank Shot"
In case this is the first time you've found our blog, welcome! Once a week, we take a look at a book that is a favorite of mine that helps eat up all that baseball travel time. The Enoch Pratt Free Library lends us a hand with recommendations from their staff, we note others sites that offer suggestions and, thanks to you, we have recommendations in the comments section. Thanks for that. Generally, you don't figure to be lying on the floor and laughing your head off when you read a mystery...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Kid"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Kid"
There will be books written about baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams for as long as the printing presses roll. Williams provided a lot of material in a life filled with his baseball superstar status, turbulent private life, running quarrels with the Boston baseball press and cryogenic ending. In "The Kid," Ben Bradlee Jr. left none of that life untouched in this can't-wait-to-turn-the-page read. Check out the accompanying video for more on "The Kid." A shout out to the Selby Public...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Crazy Horse - A Life"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "Crazy Horse - A Life"
Crazy Horse is a name that evokes the history of Native Americans in the western United States at a time when they were being pushed from their lands, and the violence between U.S. troops and numerous tribes was ongoing. Among the most noted of all chiefs, Crazy Horse's life is tough to recreate. Larry McMurtry tried to do just that in "Crazy Horse - A Life," written in 1999. The writing is suburb. The story is engrossing. Check out the video for more on the book. I am delighted the Enoch...

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Old Man and the Sea"

Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne: "The Old Man and the Sea"
In my 30 years of broadcasting Major League Baseball, there have been far too many plane rides, far too many delays and what could have been, far too many wasted hours. Thank heavens, since the earliest years, I have loved to read. Books are friends to me. Libraries are where those friends live. I engage both as often as possible in my travels. Just for fun, with the help of some friends at MASN (the human kind) and the wonderful folks at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore, we begin...