Paul Dickson’s Masterpiece about Bill Veeck
I have believed that two of the greatest living biographers are David McCullough and Douglas Brinkley. I have blogged before about their best-selling works.Please add to their companionship the name of Paul Dickson, whose biography, Bill Veeck (New York: Walker Publishing, 2012), is as thorough and entertaining of this type of book that I have read.
One given is that it doesn’t take a lot to get great material when the subject matter is Bill Veeck. As a major league baseball owner of several teams, no one has ever had stranger techniques or wilder promotions. He also was one of the great “givers” that the game has ever known, particularly from the owner’s box.
This book details these techniques and promotions well. Who could ever forget sending a midget up to bat to ensure a sure base on balls? Or, how about disco-burning night, where more fans than could fit into the stadium showed up to contribute their albums to both a literal and figurative blow-up?
And, how humanitarian Veeck was. He sat with fans in the bleachers. He gave thousands of tickets away to kids who could not afford them. He wore a prosthetic most of his life, but it did not stop him from parading onto the field to play the national anthem as part of a spirit crew. And, he showed great courage by bringing players of color into the limelight, especially the great pitcher, Satchel Paige.
But this book is not just a recount of Veeck’s history. Dickson skillfully weaves sports, politics, economics, and other aspects of our culture into the story. It is a compelling tale, told by a skillful author, who has researched his focal person and subject well.
This is Paul Dickson’s seventh book. Not all are about baseball, and not all are biographies. But, this book clearly places him among the best currently writing.
I can’t present this book at the First Friday Book Synopsis in Dallas. It did not make a best-seller list, which is our requirement for selection. But, I hope someday to get to talk about it formally for some audience, somewhere.
Consider buying and reading it. It will be well worth your reading time.
Thank you sir. My book was not a best-seller but folks like you really loved it. Thinking about bio of Leo Durocher next. Love to communicate directly– Paul Dickson
I look forward to that one. I remember in his autobiography, “Hello, Everybody,” the great broadcaster Lindsey Nelson said that Durocher would be the manager he would choose if he had to win only one game. He might steal it, or whatever, but somehow, he would figure out how to win it. KJK
Paul: Until I started college, the DFW area only had minor league baseball, so I had to follow the Houston Astros. In 1965, the Astros moved into the 8th Wonder of the World, the Astrodome. Durocher was manager of the Chicago Cubs, and he despised the place. He hated the “scoreboard spectacular” and the cartoon showing a pitcher taking the “boot.” One game he was incensed because that cartoon was shown for a Cubs pitcher removed due to injury. Ironically, his last teams to manager were the Houston Astros! He had to manage in the building he couldn’t stand.
Karl: I actually listened to the game you refer to, with Gene Elston at the mike. Back then, the only televised games were on weekends. So, I listened on the radio to every game that I could. I really look forward to reading this book! I have already ordered it.
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