Ray Didinger: One Last Read

<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" vlink="#CC0000" alink="#CC0000"><center><hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade>The very best writing from one of Philadelphia's finest sportswriters<hr width="350" size="1" align="center" noshade><p><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9781592136001&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><img src="1896_reg.gif" height=200 border=1 vspace=4></p></center><h1>One Last Read</h1> <H2>The Collected Works of the World's Slowest Sportswriter</H2> <h3>Ray Didinger</h3> <P>cloth 1592136001 $35.50, Aug 07, <FONT COLOR=#990033>Available</FONT> <BR> 384 pp 6x9 10 halftones </P><BLOCKQUOTE><I>"There can be no debate that Ray Didinger [is] the best sportswriter ever in Philadelphia."</i> <br>&#151<b>Angelo Cataldi</b>, sports talk host <i>WIP-AM Radio </i> and former sportswriter for the <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i></I></BLOCKQUOTE> <p>Ray Didinger is one of the best sportswriters Philadelphia has ever read. A sports journalist, first for the<i> Bulletin</i> and then for the <i>Daily News</i>, he never missed a deadline in over 25 years. But as he admits, there have been close calls, much to his editors' chagrin. He was widely known as "The World's Slowest Sportswriter." <p> Of the thousands of articles, columns, and profiles he has penned over the years, Didinger has selected his finest work to be included in this book.<i> One Last Read </i>contains entire chapters for each of the professional Philadelphia teams-the Phillies, the Flyers, the Sixers and of course, The Eagles. But that is only half of the story. Included here is his coverage of college sport and the Olympics as well as the full text of the speech he delivered in Canton, Ohio when he presented his boyhood idol, Tommy McDonald, for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. <p> There are also some strongly-worded opinion pieces too-about former Eagles owner (and legendary high-roller) Leonard Tose, the career of Woody Hayes, and much, much more. Didinger's introduction- engaging, warm, witty, and insightful-is among his finest writing. And for longtime readers, this essential collection of Didinger's work was worth the wait. <BR> <h2>Excerpt</h2><P>Excerpt available at <a href="http://www.temple.edu/tempress">www.temple.edu/tempress</a></p> <BR> <h2>Reviews</h2> <p><i>"Ray Didinger continues to produce some of the most inspired, illuminating sports writing in America. He has been witness to some of sports' most memorable events-and occasionally got his columns in by deadline. Reading his work reminds you how long he has been at the top of his field."</i><br>&#151<b>Glen Macnow</b>, sports talk host <i>WIP-AM Radio</i> and co-author of <i>The Great Philadelphia Fan Book</i> <p><i>"Cheesesteaks. Rocky. Bad baseball. Ray Didinger on Philly sports. It's all from the same family. Ray's writing is wonderful. It takes you to the corner of Broad and Pattison, and I am blown away with his insight and perfect perceptions of an imperfect sports scene."</i> <br>&#151<b>Peter King</b>, <i>Sports Illustrated, NBC, HBO Sports</i> <p><i>"There is no city in America where voices of reason are in greater need-and shorter supply-than Philadelphia. Fortunately, Ray Didinger has been stepping forward for more than three decades to serve as a paragon of sanity in a town where panic is always just a missed field goal away. As this book so beautifully reminds us, Ray has always had a knack for being as eloquent as he is professional. So who the heck cares if it took him a little longer to find just the right words? </i>One Last Read<i> proves once and for all that it was worth the wait." </i> <br>&#151<b>Jayson Stark</b>, senior baseball writer for <i>ESPN.com</i> and longtime <i>Philadelphia Inquirer</i> baseball writer and columnist <p><i>"Having lived in Philadelphia and grown up in Hershey, a distant suburb, I know one thing: Philadelphia has a unique spirit and take on life. No one can capture that spirit like Ray Didinger. The special magnetism of this great city has its embodiment through its sports teams. Ray makes that all come to life in this book. To understand Philly you have to understand what the first Flyers Stanley Cup meant to the city after so many disappointments, you have to understand Villanova-St Joe's on a snowy February night at the Palestra. A lot of us lived it. Now, through Ray's wonderful prose, the rest of the world can know why we are like we are-proud Philadelphians." </i> <br>&#151<b>Ernie Accorsi</b>, Former General Manager of the <i>Baltimore Colts</i> and the <i>New York Giants</i> <p><i>�A perfect gift for your dad or any other cranky old Philly sports fan, it's also a heartening reminder that, yes, there have been Philly sports teams that could legitimately call themselves �champions.� [Rating: A-].�</i> <br>&#151<b><i>Philadelphia Magazine</i></b> <p><i>�He writes columns that even those from outside Philadelphia would appreciate�.Thanks for the memories, Ray.�</i> <br>&#151<b><i>Daily News</i></b> (Iron Mountain-Kingsford, Michigan) <p><i>�One of the best books of the year, for the second year in a row, was authored by Ray Didinger. It's an anthology of his columns and it's called </i>"One Last Read."<i> There are wonderful portraits of Dick Vermeil, Tug McGraw, Thurman Munson. And there are some strong opinion pieces about Pete Rose, Woody Hayes and Leonard Tose. Worth reading again for the elegance of the prose, for the diligent reporting that went into them, for the looooong hours that it took to write them.� </i> <br>&#151<b><i>Philadelphia Daily News</i></b> <BR> <h2>Contents</h2><P> <br>Acknowledgements <br>Itroduction <P>Part I: The Home Town Teams <P>1. The Eagles <br>2. The Phillies <br>3. The Flyers <br>4. The Sixers <p>Part II: American Sports at Home and in the World <p>5. Footbal <br>6. Baseball <br>7. Olympics <br>8. 1980-The Year That Was <p>Part III: Facts and Opinion <p>Profiles <br>Opinion <p>Index </P><BR> <H2>About the Author(s)</H2> <table><tr><td valign="top"><img src="/tempress/authors/1896_au.gif" height="90" width="75"></td><td width="100%" valign="middle"><p><b>Ray Didinger</b> has won six Emmy Awards as a writer and producer at NFL Films. Before that, he was a reporter covering the National Football League for <i>The Philadelphia Bulletin</i>, and later <i>The Philadelphia Daily News</i>. In 1995 he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the recipient of the Dick McCann Memorial Award for long and distinguished reporting of pro football. He is the author (with Robert S. Lyons) of <i><a href="1830_reg.html" target="_top">The Eagles Encyclopedia</a></i>, and a weekly commentator and panelist on Comcast SportsNet's Post Game Live show during the football season.</P></td></tr></table> <BR><H2>Subject Categories</H2> <p><A HREF="/tempress/sports.html" TARGET="_top">Sports</a> <BR><A HREF="/tempress/philly.html" TARGET="_top">Philadelphia Region</a> <BR><A HREF="/tempress/general.html" TARGET="_top">General Interest</a> </p> <p align="center"><a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/ChicagoBook.aspx?ISBN=9781592136001&&PRESS=temple" target="_top">Buy this book!</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">View Cart</a> | <a href="https://cdcshoppingcart.uchicago.edu/Cart/Cart.aspx?PRESS=temple" target="_top">Check Out</a></p><p><font face="Arial" size="1"><a href="copyright.html" onMouseOver="window.status='Web Copyright Policy';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Web Copyright Policy">©</a> 2015 <a href="http://www.temple.edu" target="new" onMouseOver="window.status='Link to Temple University home page';return true;" onMouseOut="window.status=''" title="Link to Temple University home page">Temple University</a>. All Rights Reserved. http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1896_reg.html</font></p>