Author’s ‘Diamond Thieves’
first in ‘Extra Innings’ trilogy
The Diamond Thieves by Akron resident B.W. Gibson is the first book in an announced trilogy called Extra Innings. The story, set in 1947 Mississippi, concerns a group of boys, led by identical twins Jimmy and Billy McGee, who spend their summer days playing ball at a school field. All is well until a gang of ruffian boys from across town show up, demanding that the twins’ team surrender their playing rights to the field and threatening violence if they don’t.
The McGee team offers to share the field, but are rebuffed and receive a counteroffer — a game to decide tenancy of the field, winner take all. It sounds like a good idea until the McGees realize they may have a problem: One of their best players is black, and the small town is far from integrated. The boys fear for their friend’s safety if he plays, but don’t think they can win without him. If he doesn’t play, they will be a man short.
Worse, another teammate learns his family is moving out of town on short notice, and the boys must scramble to recruit a new player, and the only one they can find has never held a bat. After weeks of practice, the big game arrives, and the whole town turns out to watch before the Fourth of July picnic. Many of the spectators would profit by a lesson in tolerance.
The Diamond Thieves (144 pages, softcover) costs $23.99 from online retailers.
Fitness trainer gives tips
Wadsworth resident Gary Palmer became a certified personal trainer at age 70, and now, at 74, is sharing his fitness methods in his book Survival of the Fittest: A Practical Approach to Reverse the Aging Process.
Palmer’s methods aren’t drastic or revolutionary. He advocates a good night’s sleep, exercise, weight maintenance and nutrition, in his case eliminating gluten, dairy and meat. The largest part of the book is Palmer’s demonstration of his workout, beginning with stretches and followed by curls and balance exercises. The photographs are clear, so readers can see Palmer’s techniques and use of equipment. He concludes with a discussion of diet, talking about fats, sodium and other nutrients.
Survival of the Fittest (141 pages, softcover) costs $14.95 from online retailers. Gary Palmer also is the author of Chagrin Falls: A Memoir, and The Palatine, a novel.
Book revised, expanded
In his 2001 In the Wake of the Butcher: Cleveland’s Torso Murders, Cuyahoga Community College professor James Jessen Badal revealed that Safety Director Eliot Ness had a strong suspect for the horrific 1930s dismemberments, and confirmed that Ness had taken the suspect to a Cleveland hotel for a marathon interrogation session with a lie detector.
In a new “revised and expanded” Authoritative Edition, Badal presents further evidence to strengthen his case, and also proposes the exact location of the killer’s hideaway — he (no real consideration was given to the possibility that the killer was a woman) would need privacy and seclusion for his evil work.
In the Wake of the Butcher: Authoritative Edition (289 pages, softcover) costs $24.95 from Kent State University Press. James Jessen Badal also is the author of Though Murder Has No Tongue: The Lost Victim of Cleveland’s Mad Butcher, about Frank Dolezal, the man arrested for the crimes, who almost certainly was innocent and who died in jail under suspicious circumstances.
Footnote
Akron resident Eliese Colette Goldbach has won the 2014 Emerging Writer’s Contest in the nonfiction category for her essay “In the Memory of the Living.” The contest is sponsored by Ploughshares literary journal, which will publish the winning entries, including those in fiction and poetry, in its winter issue. Goldbach completed graduate studies at the Northeast Ohio Master of Fine Arts Program.
Events
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Brook Park branch, 6155 Engle Road) — Children’s author and illustrator Lindsay Ward (When Blue Met Egg), illustrator JoAnn DePolo (Making It As an Artist) and author Megan Whalen Turner (Newbery Honor fantasy The Thief) conduct an authors and illustrators camp for students ages 11-14, 1 to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Registration required; call 216-267-5250. From 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, Tony Marini, author of the storybook Pennie the Christmas Pickle, conducts activities including a costume contest and crafts. Registration requested.
Cuyahoga County Public Library (Olmsted Falls branch, 8100 Mapleway Drive) — Cleveland native John Sabol talks about and signs his pictorial history Kelleys Island, 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Registration requested; call 440-235-1150.
Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights) — Tamasin Noyes, author (with Celine Steen) of Vegan Finger Foods, will sign her vegan cookbooks from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in the “Tuesdays on Coventry” summer vendor village across the street from the bookstore.
Annabell’s Bar & Lounge (782 W. Market St., Akron) — Poets Natalie Shapero and Hanna Stephenson, playwright Michael Geither and writer Amanda McCoy continue the Big Big Mess Reading Series, 6 to 9 p.m. Friday.
Marc’s (1041 N. Court St., Medina) — Melissa Sasina, author of fantasy adventure fiction including the Chronicles of Midgard series, signs her work from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.
Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson) — Les Roberts, author of the Cleveland-set Milan Jacovich detective series, leads a writing workshop called “Are You Writing Real Characters, or Writing About Your Drapes?” from 5 to 7 p.m. Aug. 10. $45. Call 330-653-2252 to register.
— Barbara McIntyre
Special to the Beacon Journal
Send information about books of local interest to Lynne Sherwin, Features Department, Akron Beacon Journal, P.O. Box 640, Akron, OH 44309 or lsherwin@thebeaconjournal.com. Event notices should be sent at least two weeks in advance.