ARAM GOUDSOUZIAN & GEOFF CALKINS: OUT OF LEFT FIELD: A SPORTSWRITER'S LAST WORD

Join us as we welcome ARAM GOUDSOUZIAN in conversation with GEOFF CALKINS on MONDAY, APRIL 29 at 6:00 pm to discuss OUT OF LEFT FIELD: A SPORTSWRITER'S LAST WORD. 

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Iconoclastic and irreverent, Stan Isaacs was part of a generation that bucked the sports establishment with a skepticism for authority, an appreciation for absurdity, and a gift for placing athletes and events within the context of their tumultuous times. Isaacs draws on his trademark wink-and-a-grin approach to tell the story of the long-ago Brooklyn that formed him and a career that placed him amidst the major sporting events of his era. Mixing reminiscences with column excerpts, Isaacs recalls antics like stealing a Brooklyn Dodgers pennant after the team moved to Los Angeles and his many writings on Paul Revere's horse. But Isaacs also reveals the crusading and humanist instincts that gave Black athletes like Muhammad Ali a rare forum to express their views and celebrated the oddball, unsung Mets over the straitlaced Yankees. Insightful and hilarious, Out of Left Field is the long-awaited memoir of the influential sportswriter and his adventures in the era of Jim Brown, Arthur Ashe, and the Amazin' Mets.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Stan Isaacs (1929-2013) was a sportswriter and pioneering sports media reporter. His longtime column, "Out of Left Field," appeared in Newsday. He is the author of Ten Moments That Shook the Sports World.

ABOUT THE EDITOR:

Aram Goudsouzian is the Bizot Family Professor of History at the University of Memphis, where he teaches courses on modern American race, culture, and politics. His books include King of the Court: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution and Down to the Crossroads: Civil Rights, Black Power, and the Meredith March against Fear.

ABOUT THE IN-CONVERSATION PARTNER:

Geoff Calkins is a columnist for The Daily Memphian and the host of The Geoff Calkins Show on ESPN 92.9FM. He has been chronicling Memphis people and Memphis sports for nearly 30s. Calkins has been named Best Sports Columnist in the country by the Associated Press Sports Editors five times. He was a fan of the Buffalo Bills before there was such a thing as “Bills mafia” — and he believes his time as a Bills fan prepared him well for the heartbreak of Memphis sports.