Scribe

June 30, 2014
As a student at New Jersey’s The Lawrenceville School, former Boston Globe sports columnist Ryan was nicknamed “The Scribe” by the school’s football coach. After graduating from Boston College in 1968, Ryan scored an internship at the Globe; he took advantage of it, writing about basketball and baseball, and was promoted to a full-time columnist in 1989. Ryan’s memoir predictably covers memories of games and athletes past: the Boston Celtics’ principled center Dave Cowens was the “most fascinating person I had ever encountered,” although golf is Ryan’s favorite sport to cover. As a guide for aspiring sportswriters or a personal reflections on a life covering professional sports, Ryan’s book falls short. He relies too often on anecdotes, almost like he’s writing an extended column. But that might be the point. The book shines when Ryan describes his childhood in Trenton, N.J., the foundation for his sports-filled future.

August 1, 2014
The classic American sportswriter reflects on a half-century of covering the games we play. Boston Globe mainstay Ryan (The Best of Sport: Classic Writing from the Golden Era of Sports, 2005, etc.) is one of this country's finest writers, period, fashioning wit, drama and sincerity into a wealth of stories about all kinds of sports until he went into semiretirement in 2012. Here, he recounts the arc of his career, shares advice from the golden age of old-school journalism and pens terrific anecdotes about some of basketball's larger-than-life figures. He admits readily that his career was something of an accident, from his first internship at the Globe to inheriting the sports desk at the age of 23. "I was confident I could write a decent basketball story," he writes. "But covering a team is something entirely different than writing about a sport. There is no manual. I've never discovered a course anyone can take. It is the ultimate trial-and-error experience." Along the way, Ryan levies praise on giants like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, weighs in on the Michael Jordan versus LeBron James debate, and shares his memories of provocative coaches like Red Auerbach, Bob Knight and Chuck Daly. The author provides a solid mix of candid, respectful and honest assessments, with much of his trademark humor added in. Despite being known for his basketball lore, Ryan is also something of a multi-instrumentalist, offering thoughtful reflections on football, baseball, Olympic hockey and even the Great American Songbook. "I love sports and I want people to know it," he writes. "I'd like to think the word people most associate with me is 'enthusiasm.' Give me a good game and I'll be happy; as a fan I may regret the outcome, but as a journalist, I'll appreciate the drama." A terrific memoir with lessons for young journalists, sports fans and anyone who shares the love of the games.

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September 15, 2014

The latest book by veteran Boston Globe sportswriter Ryan (Forty-Eight Minutes) is a collection of observations and anecdotes on a wide range of sports topics drawn from his long and distinguished career, plus a bit of autobiographical detail that links the author to notable games, athletes, and coaches. Nearly all of the chronologically organized chapters focus on basketball and baseball; with hockey, football, and golf each getting one chapter's worth of his wit and intelligence. Ryan is at his enthusiastic and eloquent best when reminiscing about his beloved Boston Celtics, giving readers deep insight into the team's championship runs in the 1970s and 1980s as he shares memories of covering legendary performers and colorful personalities such as Larry Bird and John Havlicek. While the author does reflect on his many years as a television commentator for ESPN, including recent controversial remarks that temporarily knocked him off the air, the emphasis is squarely on his nearly five-decade-long writing career. Fans of Robert Lipsyte's An Accidental Sportswriter will appreciate Ryan's similarly anecdotal and partly autobiographical approach. VERDICT This thoroughly engaging book is recommended to all sports enthusiasts, especially readers interested in Boston-area teams.--Douglas King, Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Columbia

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