Literary birthday greetings: Catching up

I have been remiss.

Recent notable birthdays include

Nov. 13:

• Mel Stottlemyre, 1941 (Pride and Pinstripes: The Yankees, Mets, and Surviving Life’s Challenges)
• Johnny Kling, 1875) (Johnny Kling: A Baseball Biography)

Nov. 14:

• Jim Piersall, 1929 (Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story, plus the movie version starring the badly miscast Anthony Hopkins, Fear Strikes Out;  The Truth Hurts)

Nov. 15:

• Glenn Burke, 1952 (Out at Home: The Glenn Burke Story)
• Dwight Gooden, 1964 (Heat: My Life on and Off the Diamond; High and Tight:: The Rise and Fall of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry; Rookie/the Story of My First Year in the Major Leagues)

Notes: Stottlemyre’s book was published after the revelation that he was suffering from cancer. Piersall was famous for his battles with mental illness perhaps more than his ability on the field; the biopic was truly bizarre. Watching Hopkins made me think someone forgot to take the hanger out of his jersey and his performance was just as wooden. Burke was the only baseball player to come out as gay; he died of AIDS in 1995. Gooden was a phenom at 19 and the darling of the media. His hard fall and redemption were similarly book-worthy.

• Documentary on out gay baseball player Glenn Burke (pinkbananaworld.com)
• Q&A with Glenn Burke documentarian Doug Harris (sfgate.com)

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