The Colts' Baltimore: A City and Its Love Affair in the 1950s

by Michael Olesker

Overview

Third Place, General Trade Hardcover Nonfiction, 2009 New York Book Show. Bookbinders' Guild of New York.

This is Michael Olesker's nostalgic reminiscence of 1958, the year the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants in sudden-death overtime in a game that still grips the emotions of Baltimoreans. Olesker recaptures the city’s love affair with the Colts in a series of thoughtful and colorful stories that give voice to such notable characters as Colts players Johnny Unitas and Art Donovan, politicians Tommy D’Alesandro and Jack Pollack, entertainers Buddy Deane and Royal Parker, sportscasters Chuck Thompson and Vince Bagli, and filmmaker John Waters.

The Colts’ Baltimore also traces the changing cultural landscape of the city just entering an age of revolution—a time when schools were being racially integrated, rock and roll played on the radio, and Baltimore was planning to renew the dilapidated downtown.

Revealing warm ties between Baltimore and its beloved Colts, Olesker's writing makes the events of 1958 seem like only yesterday.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801890628
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	11/18/2008
Edition description:	20
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michael Olesker wrote a column for the Baltimore Sun for twenty-five years. He is the author of five previous books, including Michael Olesker's Baltimore: If You Live Here, You're Home, Journeys to the Heart of Baltimore, and The Colts' Baltimore: A City and Its Love Affair in the 1950s.

Table of Contents

Preface: The Ghosts of Ball Games Past
1. The Lost City
2. "Just Look at Those Awful People"
3. The Homely Girl
4. "Way You Chuck 'em In, Hon"
5. Father Raymond Berry
6. Lenny and Big Daddy
7. The Autumn Rituals
8. The Last Rites
9. A Town without Foreplay
10. Sudden Life
11. "They Just Wanted Somebody to Be Happy With"
Note on Sources

What People are Saying About This

Charles E. Neu

Part sentimental memoir, part sports history, and part social and cultural history. It conveys a sense of nostalgia, not only for the lost youth of individuals, but also for an earlier, simpler era of professional football, when salaries were modest, players held other jobs, and when the sport had not become so dominant in mass culture. A fascinating book that should interest a broad range of readers.

— Charles E. Neu, Brown University

From the Publisher

Part sentimental memoir, part sports history, and part social and cultural history. It conveys a sense of nostalgia, not only for the lost youth of individuals, but also for an earlier, simpler era of professional football, when salaries were modest, players held other jobs, and when the sport had not become so dominant in mass culture. A fascinating book that should interest a broad range of readers.
—Charles E. Neu, Brown University

Editorial Reviews

Like a love poem . . . to a more innocent time.
—Diane Scharper, Baltimore Sun

From the Publisher

Like a love poem . . . to a more innocent time.

Baltimore Sun - Diane Scharper