Tom Swift Writer’s Notebook

Marisa Helms interviewed me this week for a MN90 radio short she’s producing about Charles Bender. The segment will air on Minnesota public radio stations — I do not know when — and will eventually turn up at ampers.

Graham Womack was kind enough to review “Chief Bender’s Burden” at Baseball: Past & Present, a blog baseball history buffs will want to check out. A slice: “Swift captures a seemingly complete portrait of Bender, good and bad. While noting his masterful pitching and ability to read opponents tipping their pitches, Swift also documents Bender’s [...]

I had a teacher in middle school who gave us a Note of the Day each morning, usually an historical fact or, as I recall, a few random words of German (still not sure what that was about). In any event, here’s your NOTD: One hundred years ago today, Charles Albert Bender flirted with perfection, [...]

I was recently interviewed by iSportacus, a Philadelphia focused blog.

The books editors at both the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press have recently devoted column space to Minnesotans in Baseball, a collection of dozens of the most famous baseball players born or raised in the state. The book was edited by Stew Thornley, award-winning author, foremost historian of baseball in the North [...]

While writing “Chief Bender’s Burden,” I looked everywhere I could think of for footage of Charles Bender. In my dreams I would discover lost in-game pitching footage. More realistically, I thought I had shot at something — a demonstration or even an off-field appearance. The man was, after all, in a movie. I swung and [...]

I will be Mike Schikman’s guest on “Speaking Of …” Friday (May 22) evening when we’ll talk about “Chief Bender’s Burden” 55 years to the day after Charles Bender stopped pitching in this world. That’s 6:30 p.m. Eastern, WSVA 550 AM, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Easily, without question, I got far more out of writing “Chief Bender’s Burden” than anyone will ever get from reading it. And the book only exists because I worked with an editor of rare patience, because I share my life with a woman of incomparable understanding, and because I belong to the Society for [...]

My thanks to Bev Hermes, who alerted me to news that Charles Bender will appear in the center of one of the murals that will adorn Target Field and the transit station across from the Minnesota Twins’ new open-air ballpark.

Sometimes I wish e-mail would go the way of the telegram. But then every once in a while I open the inbox and hear from some kind soul in another corner of the country I never would have connected with otherwise. Here’s a slice of a comment from one such person:
I just finished reading “Chief [...]

I was asked to be the featured speaker at the Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce’s 21st annual awards dinner Thursday night. The chamber’s worthy mission is to act as an advocate for American Indian businesses, organizations and professionals. What a terrific opportunity for me. Ironically, in his day Charles Bender was a sought-after speaker [...]

There have been commentaries of late about Philadelphia’s sports drought. Of the cities with at least one team in all four major American team sports, the City of Brotherly Love has gone the longest — 25 years — without a championship. This has come up because the Phillies, of course, are trying to break the [...]

Thanks to writer Dwight Hobbes for his interest in Charles Bender’s story. His questions and my answers were just published at the Daily Planet.

For a number of years Charles and Marie Bender shared a house (pictured) with one of Charles’ sisters, Emma, and Emma’s daughter from a marriage that ended in divorce. Emma’s ex-husband later remarried and had a son. Last week, I learned that those two offspring, the half sister and brother — people who had lost [...]

The Cleveland Public Library had a terrific photograph on display for the event on Friday — a shot of Charles Bender sitting on a chair being overwhelmed by fishing poles, golf clubs, bats, rifles, and so on. The tools of Bender’s ever-active life included more than one kind of ball. He was an avid bowler [...]

Matt Mosman includes Charles Bender in his list of great band names. A variation on the theme: Chief Bender and the Sliders. I’m thinking of jazz so smooth you can’t help but chill.

I was talking to a high school class last week and a student asked why Charles Bender was such a fascinating subject. There are many reasons. One that came immediately to mind: He was such an interesting human being. Bender had a rare ability to throw a ball. His story was and remains an inspiration. [...]

You mean all I needed to do hit No. 1 at Amazon was insert some lies told by George W. Bush?
Actually, that would have been even easier than you might think. Bush has given more than one Iraq speech at the Army War College. What was the Army War College before it was the Army [...]

Good to see Charles Bender included in a PiPress piece about 150 years of moments that defined Minnesota.

Charles Bender was a pitcher’s pitcher. Though he could throw hard, he wasn’t one of those guys who relied on the strength of his arm. He used a variety of deliveries — often flicking his leg high; he was one of the first pitchers known for a big kick — and threw an assortment of [...]