The Great Fenway Park Writers Series, inaugurated during the 2005 major league baseball season, is under the sponsorship of the Boston Red Sox and the Citizens of Red Sox Nation. George Mitrovich, president of The City Club of Diego and The Denver Forum, two leading American public forums, chairs the writers series for the Red Sox. The writers series, it should be noted, is a truly unique undertaking for a professional sports organization.
Conceived by Mr. Mitrovich and Dr. Charles Steinberg, the vice-president for public affairs of the Boston Red Sox, the series featured Dan Shaughnessy, author of "Reversing the Curse: Inside the 2004 Boston Red Sox"; Tony Massarotti and John Harper, who co-wrote "Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant"; Lou Gorman, author of "One Pitch from Glory: A Decade of Running the Red Sox", Jerry Remy, who wrote "Watching Baseball: Discovering the Game Within the Game", and Frank Deford of Sports Illustrated and National Public Radio (NPR), author of "The Old Ball Game: How John McGraw, Christy Mathewson and the New York Giants Created Modern Baseball."
In addition to the four programs at Fenway, a fifth program featuring Mr. Shaughnessy of The Boston Globe, was held at Sonny McLean's in Santa Monica, California, an Irish pub overwhelmingly patronized by Red Sox Nation fans.
Prior to the beginning of the ’06 season Mr. Mitrovich and Dr. Steinberg, in consultation with Larry Lucchino, president & CEO of the Red Sox, agreed that year two of The Great Fenway Park Writers Series would be broadened to include significant authors from other than the world of sports. Thus the ’06 season began with a special program featuring Michael Gordon, chief military correspondent of The New York Times and Retired Marine Corps General Bernard E. Trainor, co-authors of a highly important new book, “Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq.”
Mr. Gordon and General Trainor spoke April 13 to a captivated crowd in the Crown Royal Room at Fenway Park. Among those in attendance were former Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis and his wife, Kitty, celebrated Boston College sociologist and author Dr. Juliet Schor, as well as Adam Pertman, who heads the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, and William H. White, Jr., of the Institute of Politics at Harvard. Among Red Sox officials present were Mr. Lucchino, general manager Theo Epstein, and Dr. Steinberg.
Other programs upcoming in The Great Fenway Park Writers Series include:
Joe Castiglione, is in his 23rd season behind the microphone on Red Sox radio. He previously handled play-by-play for the Cleveland Indians on TV in 1979 and 1982 and broadcast the Milwaukee Brewers on TV in 1981. The Hamden, CT native has announced the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, and did college basketball on New England Sports Network for six winters. During the off-season, he teaches broadcast journalism courses at Northeastern University and Franklin Pierce College. Joe also works in fund raising for the Jimmy Fund.
Others likely to appear during ‘06 include the great historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, the legendary CBS sportscaster Dick Enberg, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, and presidential biographer Richard Reeves. Their appearances underscore the series' intent – The Great Fenway Park Writers Series is about more than baseball.
To reserve for the May 12 event with Jackie MacMullin, please contact Meghan Donovan of the Red Sox at 617-267-9440, or via e-mail: mdonovan@redsox.com. |
