Tom Swift Writer’s Notebook

Seth Stohs was kindly invited me to be a guest on his baseball-chatter podcast this week. If you’re a fan of the Minnesota Twins, especially future Minnesota Twins, Seth Speaks has you covered. But you probably already knew that.

The review was published three months ago, but it didn’t arrive at my door until, well, last Tuesday. So I’ll announce it as though it’s breaking news. Gail Huganir, managing editor of Central PA, made some very generous statements about Chief Bender’s Burden in the magazine’s July issue. “I’ll be the first to admit I [...]

Bob Hussey writes of Chief Bender’s Burden in the October issue of Minnesota Monthly: “Swift’s account of the treatment of Native Americans and his richly detailed portrait of Philadelphia at the beginning of the 20th century will … interest general readers.” Thanks to reader P.E. for pointing out the review and thanks to Minnesota Monthly [...]

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.

I’m no economist, and I don’t play one in blog posts, but can’t we all agree — at least all of us who value evidence — that trickle-down economics is a failed idea?
Attempting something that continually fails expecting a different result is (and I know this from considerable experience with repeated failure) the definition of [...]

Speaking of conversations, I had the opportunity to be the guest on the Donna Seebo Show the other day. Ms. Seebo asked good questions and I would like to think I provided useful answers for her listeners. But I am allergic to the sound of my own voice, so I’ll have to pretend that I [...]

Since we returned, the days have passed double time. Seems like only yesterday it was last week — when I received a make-your-day note from playwright and poet Marcie Rendon alerting me to a flattering review. Writes Dwight Hobbes: “Too bad baseball’s Hall of Fame doesn’t have a Most Valuable Book category. Tom Swift’s biography [...]

People often ask about the satisfaction of publishing a book and the answer has never been easier. I’ve said it before and I’ll probably say it again: the best reward — more than any positive review and, certainly, more than any monetary gain — has been the gracious reaction from people in different corners of [...]

Headline in the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star: Double Victory. “Swift’s book,” the review says, “is an apt memorial to this almost-forgotten baseball hero.”

I made my television debut recently. Though that word makes it sound far more likely than it is that I’ll ever be on the tube again. I am sincerely grateful a producer was interested in my work and Charles Bender’s story. But I simply cannot watch the show. I provide the link because I figure [...]

Thanks to journalist Vince Grzegorek for his interest in the book and the event. Also, the panel got a plug in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Cool.

I am a big supporter of independent bookstores — and I would be even if there wasn’t a spine with my name on it in many of them. Indies are good for local economies. They are good for the environment. They are good for small presses. And, amen, they are good for mid-list authors. That’s [...]

From the May/June issue of ForeWord magazine:
“Fans of baseball’s Pre-Golden Age will appreciate the scholarship that went into ‘Chief Bender’s Burden,’ Tom Swift’s sad but sweet biography of the Native American pitcher who toiled for Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics.”

There’s a lot to like about King Kaufman’s column at Salon.com. I especially appreciate his sensibility. He finds worthwhile sports angles and writes with the thinking fan in mind. He also reads books and writes thoughtfully about them. Mr. Kaufman interviewed me this week and I sincerely enjoyed the conversation. I can’t say that about [...]

If you live in, or in the general vicinity of, the city of Northfield, you may very well already have had enough of me. Last month, I did two in-person events as well as a radio interview. Area print and online media have also placed my face before the unsuspecting public. But, like the one-eyed [...]

Hey, the book was mentioned by Shooter.

Tom Hoffarth says: This has movie script written all over it.

“Swift’s book is a success, and a success story.” So writes John Shiffert in his “19 to 21″ online column at BaseballLibrary.com, a site aimed at the rabid fan.

I couldn’t write a more flattering headline and here it is in one of the largest, most respected newspapers in the country — yes, assembling this sentence is strange in the most amazing way — the Chicago Sun-Times: ‘Chief’ Bender Biography a Gem.
The article’s author, Kevin Canfield, calls the book “a wonderful and impressively thorough [...]

Articles were published in recent days in White Earth (Charles Bender’s boyhood home), Detroit Lakes (near Bender’s old hometown) and New Brighton (my old hometown). I am grateful to journalists interested in Bender’s story.