My upcoming book on Walter Eckersall

[ChrisSerb]

Hello, I'm a longtime PFRA member and a former Nelson Ross Award winner (2019, for "War Football: World War I and the Birth of the NFL"), but a rare visitor to these boards.

Some of you may be interested in my upcoming book, "Eckie: Walter Eckersall and the Rise of Chicago Sports," which will be released on October 1 by University of Nebraska Press. It's about an important figure from the early 20th Century, a three-time All-American quarterback and national champion at University of Chicago who went on to be the first high-level athlete to become a working sports journalist (plenty of others, like Walter Camp, wrote a weekly column, but Eckie was on the sidelines for track meets, boxing matches, basketball tournaments, rifle competitions, speedskating races, and of course football games) as the lead sportswriter for the Chicago Tribune. If people could compete in something, Eckie probably covered it.

There's a lot of football in the book, including bit of pro football. I've got one chapter on Eckie's career as a semi-pro athlete, mostly in baseball where he played three full seasons, but also in football where he was undefeated in 14 games, which included one full season and two "one-off" exhibition games. Also a chapter on Eckersall's relationship with pro football as a writer, which he turned his back on at an unfortunate time, just as Red Grange rose to prominence.

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebra ... 808/eckie/

The book retails for $36.95, but I also have a "Friends and Family" code which I will let any PFRA member use...that will knock 40% off, reducing the price to $22.17. Go to nebraskapress.unl.edu and use the code 6AF25

Thanks all!
Chris Serb

[cdwillis]

Thanks Chris, for the update on the book and the discount code, much appreciated.
Look forward to getting a copy and reading it.
Chris W.

[RichardBak]

Sounds interesting. I'm curious whether the University of Chicago Press passed on it or you thought Nebraska was a better fit?

[ChrisSerb]

Thanks, Richard, and apologies for my long-delayed reply. Besides marketing "Eckie," I've been finishing up a research project for a certification for my "real" job...which I finished yesterday, so it won't be hanging over my head during Christmas! I renewed my PFRA membership today and logged into the boards for the first time since August.

UChicago Press turned me down flat, which was a bit surprising not only because Eckersall had played there making this a very "local" story, but also because I have a contact on their editorial board (a relative-by-marriage and college English professor, who teaches a class once a year on sports literature) who helped me craft my proposal and promised to be my champion if this ever made it to the editorial board stage. It never made it...the gatekeeper editor at UChicago simply passed. His exact words: "There is a story here, of course, but I'm sorry to say that I don’t really feel the larger resonances and meanings that you’re going for. Maybe I’m just deaf to the pleasures of football!"

Fortunately for me, UNebraska Press was wonderful, the acquisitions editor for sports championed this project from the start. Happy reading!

[ChrisSerb]

Thanks Chris, for the update on the book and the discount code, much appreciated.
Look forward to getting a copy and reading it.
Chris W.

Thanks Chris! And apologies for my long-delayed reply. Happy reading!