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Bill Elder
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- Montgomery, Alabama
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Bill Elder's Page
Profile Information
- Hometown:
- Bucyrus, Ohio
- About Me and My Book:
- I started writing for recreation after retiring from a long career as a college basketball coach and athletic director. I was fortunate enough to have my first book entitled "All Guts and No Glory" published by NewSouth Book, Inc. I have listed a summary of the memior below.
Picture this: a white junior college on Sand Moutain, Alabama, in the early 1970s; a directive to integrate the basketball team; a faculty, staff, and administration which, by in large, did not support the endeavor; and a community know for its segregationist violence and KKK activity. This is the situation into which a young Bill Elder, a future inductee inot the NAIA Basketball Coaches' Hall of Fame, cautiously brought several black players.
Things went well the first year, but unbeknowst to Elder, the community's white supremacist anger bubbled just under the surface. Soon, the team would face numerous threats, racial slurs and epithets, a mob attack on the team bus, a gang showing up at the college gyme on a scheduled game night to "make things clear," and a house set to blow up upon entry - as well as anonymous phone calls suggesting that Elder was on a "hit list." In the midst of all of this, Elder, with the wisdom beyond his years - for which he credits God - lead his team of young men unscathed through a two-year period of unbelievable obstacles intended to generate frear and intimindation. And they won on the court, too.
I recently completed my second memoir entitled "The Bucyrus That Was" and am currently pitching it to potential publishers. This book is about growing up in Small Town America during the "Golden Age" of the 1950s. The book gives readers an honest look at how things were back then and lets them make their own judgments as to whether this era was indeed the uptopia that it is frequently portrayed.
The book starts out with the Elder family moving from their home in Alabama to Ohio shortly after the completion of World War II in search of the American dream of improving their lot financially. After a short stay in Marion, Ohio, the jist of the story begins when the Elder family moved to Bucyrus where they took up residence in the notorious Railroad Street neighborhood. The neighborhood, known for many years as "The Line," was considered by many to be one of the most infamous in the state of Ohio during its heyday. Needless to say, a young Bill Elder had many adventures and a host of colorful friends during his stay in the tumultuous neighborhood.
From there, Elder describes in colorful detail some of his childhood adventures and the up and downs of his teenage years, including the profound effect that his conservative Christian upbringing had on his life. He completes this section by detailing some of the humorous aspects of attending an ultra-conservative church and how it impacted his less than stellar social life.
Elder next describes the importance of sports in the 1950s culture from the perspective of a person who played football, basketball and baseball for the Bucyrus High School Redmen. As was the case in many small towns of that time, hangouts were very popular with the local young people. Some of the hangouts depicted in the book bare a striking similarity to those featured in the old "Happy Days" television show.
The next section of the book gives one a general overview of what Bucyrus was like during that era. Subjects such as family structure, the booming economy, music, hair styles, television, clothing styles, etc. are covered.
Unlike many books that describe the "Golden Age" of the 50s as a uptopia, Elder's dedicates a portion of his work to the darker side of this decade. Subjects such as racial discrimination, gender inequities, polio, the Korean War, the Cold War, etc. are covered.
Elder's engaging, humorous, tell-it-like its is style makes "The Bucyrus That Was" a memoir that will give you a new perspective on the 1950s, one well worth reading.
- Website:
- http://www.bill-elder.com
Bill Elder's Photos
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Bert Martinez
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Check out my latest blogs about my design project for the upcoming release of Confessions of a Former Rock Queen.
thanks,
Aidana WillowRaven
http://willowraven.weebly.com
Scribblers’ Retreat Writers’ Conference 2009
Literacy is our purpose.
Fulfilling dreams is our goal.
www.scribblersretreatwritersconference.com
@ Sea Palms Resort, St. Simons Island, Georgia
February 12-15, 2009 – Elizabeth Blahnik, Ernest Gilbert, Pam Mueller, Kathy Kerr, Maggie Toussaint, Dr. Jim Outlaw, Lee Carter, Millie Wilcox, Monica Simmons, Roger Pinckney
May 14-17, 2009 –Dickie Anderson (F), Ed Ginn, Ervin Williams, Holly McClure, Cappy Rearick, Harlan Hambright, Constance Daley, Bud Hearn, William Rawlings
August 13-16, 2009 – “SciFi, Fantasy, Mystery, Inspirational”
November 12-15, 2009 – “Novels, Short Stories, etc”
Scribblers’ Retreat is a non-profit organization established with the goal of reaching writers of all ages; to inspire and promote their hidden gifts and talents.
By involving the local community, authors, publishers, editors, journalists and all forms of the literary world, we are opening their minds and bringing hope where there was doubt.
Scribblers’ Retreat is not the typical classroom setting. It was designed to bring world-class authors, literature professors, editors, journalists, illustrators, photo journalists, proofreaders, publishers, publicists, screenplay writers, and website/graphic designers, etc. one-on-one with young and old alike. It is the opportunity of a lifetime for someone who has had a manuscript in a desk drawer for 40 years or who has an outstanding poem that simply must be read.
Scribblers’ Retreat Writers’ Conference
Where “can’t” is not in our vocabulary.
For more information:
Jeanie Pantelakis
Co-director
Scribblers' Retreat Writers' Conference
1-800-996-2904
912-230-2207
cpantelakis@gmail.com
I want to show off my latest cover design for one of the books I am illustrating and invite you to comment on my latest blog post introducing Puff Bear Goes to the Hospital and it's author.
Hope to see your comments there...
Aidana WillowRaven
www.WillowRavenIllustration.com
Check out my latest blog post to read about my newest cover design, read the latest book review and find out how to attend my first book signing for the JGDS (Junior Geography Detective Squad) children's mystery state book series (signing as illustrator of course).
Here is the cover for the second book in the series just to tempt you further...
Isn't my job cool?
Aidana WillowRaven
www.WillowRavenIllustration.com
IM: willowraven.illustration
Greetings and congrats on your new release. LaTonya