David Halberstam

[Michael Gooen]

Thank you for a nice post, Egg.  Breaks of the Game remains one of the
best basketball books I've ever read.  Halberstam was a great writer - it
is a shame to lose him.



<<This willl maybe considered a bit off-subject, but please humor 
me.   Because in many ways Halberstam portrayed the very 
best in what sports once were. 

I first met David back in 1970 through his dear mother, 
a charming, gracious, refined, but frail little white-haired 
woman who spent her summers in Ogunquit, Me., site of our
hotel.   She was the type of woman who made you think 
"They just don't make them like that any more." And 
immediately, I hit it off with her very special son, David, 
remaining a huge admirer and friend ever since. 

Not only did Dave write with passion, courage, and honesty 
about moral issues such as Civil Rights struggles, the Vietnam War, 
the auto industry, etc., but he also loved sports - skillfully 
portraying 
the Olympics, Bird, Magic, Jordan, Belichick, and the Red Sox in his 
classic novel "Summer of '49."   Persuasion hung upon his lips.

My only regret is that he didn't live long enough to publish 
future books about the continued folly of the Iraqi War and the 
abject greed and shlock of the new breed of NBA team owners 
and players.

He was a man for all seasons, born of both yesterday and today. 
And I loved him for being so.   With yesterday's news, my wreath 
has now lost its rose.

     "The crueler the war gets, the crueler the attacks get on 
     anybody who doesn't salute or play the game," he said. 
     "And then one day, the people who are doing the attacking 
     look around, and they've used up their credibility."
          - David Halberstam

Egg>>




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