Friday and Saturday were big days for Jeanie and me. Jenny Lavendar and Joe Newbery arranged for Barb Rapp of WNXT to interview Dick Klitch, Jeanie and me at the radio station Friday morning in Portsmouth. Barb was an excellent interviewer in our estimation. Many already know that Dick is the Lone Ranger and I am Tonto from our life long friendship. Dick went on to great Trojan basketball play and Miami of Ohio play and Halls of Fame at both schools for basketball and tennis. I simply enjoyed amateur softball as a hobby in my lfe. Dick is the successful tennis pro teacher who grew up with me in Mound Park and Highland School in Portsmouth, Ohio.
Saturday we had a book signing at the Portsmouth Public Library from 10 AM to 12. Many good people showed up and bought a few of the Grandparents and Softball book.
It was so good of each of them to come by.
I wanted to explain the Portsmouth flavors of the fiction story here as I did at the book signing.
To begin with, My son, Jay, didn't want me to write the book for concern that it may put undue pressure on his daughter (our granddaughter), whom I had began the story about.
So... I proceeded to make it fictional, except for a few things. My son became Howard Sticks Brehmer, my mentor as scout leader and Highland A League football coach. Sticks and his wife Tillie led us in many hours of cub scout meetings in their home and in drum and bugle corps practices and parades in Portsmouth Ohio. My cohorts and I respected them tremendously.
Their fictional daughter was Audrey, a name selected by our own granddaughter to keep the fictional aspects. Actually, Sticks and Tillie had only one son, Howard, Jr. and each of have passed on.
I used real names of Carol and Clay Vice in telling of their legendary girls' softball teams achievements in Clay Township. Cami Groves, the recently graduated softball pitcher from Clay was also mentioned by name.
In selecting surnames for the Team USA Softball Team roster for the 2016 Olympics, I used last names of several athletes of the Portsmouth area, such as:
Fout (Jim), Gentry (Curt and Tom), Hisle (Larry), Hopkins (Dick Jr, his dad and sons), Lakeman (Gib), Nelson (Rocky and Al), Oliver (Al), Pelfrey (Ray), Plymale (Jack), Shope (Harry), Vice (Carol and Clay), and Yeagle (Steven-Doc).
The Portsmouth names were added to the first names of girls whom our granddaughter, Tobey, had played with up to this point in her softball participation.
I enjoyed writing the book and arbitrarily choosing several things from our lives to fill in.
Unfortunately, The International Olympic Committee chose again very recently not to include girls softball in the 2016 Olympics (it had already been removed from the 2012 games by the committee). My previously arbitrary choice of Rio De Janeiro was, however, selected by the IOC.
I intend to begin to lobby the American Softball Association to begin their own World Softball Girls Chanpionships with invitations to many qualifying teams from all over the world. Maybe Audrey will even survive the competitions sufficiently to qualify for the Americn team. Fictionally I can still hope and dream on...
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