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Lew Freedman

Born: 1951
Pen Name: None

Connection to Illinois: Freedman worked for the ''Chicago Tribune'' for seven years.

Biography: A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Lew Freedman is one of todays most prolific sportswriters. Having covered almost every major sport from baseball to Alaskan dogsled racing, Freedman is the author of more than 75 books and the winner of more than 250 journalism awards. He lived in Alaska for seventeen years and was previously the sports editor of the ''Anchorage Daily News'' and a sports journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune'' from 2001 - 2008. He is currently a freelance writer and lives in Columbus, Indiana.


Awards:

Primary Literary Genre(s): Non-Fiction

Primary Audience(s): Adult readers

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Website: http://www.LewFreedmanBooks.com
Lew Freedman on WorldCat : http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=lew+freedman


Selected Titles

African American pioneers of baseball :
ISBN: 0313338515 OCLC: 230755650

Presents brief portraits of twenty legendary African American baseball players who contributed to the integration of Major League baseball.

Bad friday :
ISBN: 1935347241 OCLC: 813930607

Epicenter Press, Kenmore, Washington : ©2013.

On March 27, 1964, a magnitude 9.2 earthquake lasting more than five minutes rocked south central Alaska, leveling waterfronts, collapsing bridges, and crumbling landscapes. The most powerful quake in North American history and ensuing tidal waves left homes broken, children orphaned, and infrastructure decimated. Yet, from within the tragedy also came stories of heroism, community, and perseverance from Alaskans who rode the earth as it shifted more than 14 feet, who floated atop roofs as the tsunami hit, and who searched through rubble and deserted homes amid devastation, heartbreak, and the beginning of recovery.

Baseball
ISBN: 9780785824411 OCLC: 229034097

Chartwell Books, Inc., Edison, NJ : 2008.

Becoming iron men :
ISBN: 0896728773 OCLC: 868147650

"The greatest untold story in college basketball history. Loyola University Chicago was ahead of its time when racial matters were forefront in a long overdue revolution in civil rights. The Ramblers of the 1962-1963 NCAA college basketball season were pioneers in race relations in sport, though most of the time they were simply playing the sport they loved. When the NCAA tournament began in March, the Ramblers engaged in a series for the ages, daring to be the first NCAA Division I school to play five black athletes on the court at once and capturing the most prestigious title in college basketball at a time when states below the Mason-Dixon line still had laws on the books preventing black and white athletes from mixing even in pick-up games. Records were set, rivals faced, and one of the most famous and significant contests in college basketball playoff history played out in what incidentally became a model showcase for race relations. Nearly every time the Ramblers took the court, the game was unique in its magnitude. Relying significantly on exclusive interviews with surviving players, now in their seventies, Lew Freedman chronicles the entire journey, the adventure of the season that bound tight for a lifetime the group of men who lived through it"--

  Boston Red Sox /
ISBN: 1624034632 OCLC: 891122471

Inside MLB profiles each of the 30 franchises in Major League Baseball. Boston Red Sox is a beginner?s history of the Red Sox, covering the beginnings of the franchise, the greatest and lowest moments of the team, and the best players and managers. Fun facts, anecdotes, and sidebars round out the story of each club, allowing your readers to get Inside MLB! SportsZone is an imprint of Abdo Publishing.

Chicago Bears :
ISBN: 0760332312 OCLC: 213375775

MBI Pub. Co, Minneapolis : 2008.

The ultimate history of the legendary Chicago Bears, from Halas to Hester, with hundreds of photos, stats, and player profiles.

  Cubs essential :
ISBN: 9781623685669 OCLC: 849937227

Triumph Books, Chicago : ©2006.

A one-stop record containing everything Cubs fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

Cubs essential :
ISBN: 1572438169 OCLC: 62282216

Triumph Books, Chicago : ©2006.

Diamonds in the rough :
ISBN: 0945397828 OCLC: 44648283

Epicenter Press, Kenmore, WA : ©2000.

Dynasty :
ISBN: 1599211246 OCLC: 176926516

Lyons Press, Guilford, Conn. : ©2008.

Discusses the success of the Boston Celtics basketball team between 1957-1969, when they won eleven titles under the coaching of Red Auerbach and with assistance from players such as Bill Russell and John Havlicek.

Encyclopedia of stock car racing
ISBN: 9780313387098 OCLC: 780481214

Provides a history of the sport as well as an up-to-date examination of modern-day stock car racing.

Father of the Iditarod :
ISBN: 0945397755 OCLC: 42743830

Epicenter Press, Fairbanks : [1999]

A biography of Joe Redington, founder of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, discussing his early life and struggles, the happiness he found after moving to Alaska in 1948, and his efforts to rescue Alaska dog mushing from extinction by creating the now famous race.

  Football stadiums :
ISBN: 9781785391309 OCLC: 905763359

Football Stadiums tells the stories of about 150 of the great stadiums -- active and retired -- across the country that have hosted pro football or college football play. They are home to current NFL franchises and the best college teams and a source of endless fascination, research, discussion, and even pilgrimages.

Football stadiums :
ISBN: 1770852174 OCLC: 858312545

Football Stadiums tells the stories of about 150 of the great stadiums -- active and retired -- across the country that have hosted pro football or college football play. They are home to current NFL franchises and the best college teams and a source of endless fascination, research, discussion, and even pilgrimages. To serious fans, they are hallowed ground.

Game of my life, Chicago Cubs :
ISBN: 1596701730 OCLC: 85692877

SportsPub., Champaign, IL : ©2007.

  Game of my life, Chicago White Sox :
ISBN: 1613213204 OCLC: 816030482

"More than twenty former and current Pale Hose players share their fondest single-game White Sox experience and memories with the Chicago Tribune’s Lew Freedman. Many of these moments have helped shape the White Sox’s rich heritage in Chicago. Billy Pierce, Scott Podsednik, Mark Buehrle, Greg Walker, Bobby Jenks, Turk Lown, and Gerry Staley are but a few of the legendary stars who discuss the games of their lives. This book is the ticket for White Sox fans to travel back in time alongside many of their heroes to experience the moments that have shaped the South Siders during the team’s 107-year history" -- Amazon.com.

Game of my life, Cincinnati Reds :
ISBN: 1613213271 OCLC: 816030484

Game of my life.
ISBN: 9781613213803 OCLC: 829161826

Sports Pub., New York : ©2012.

The author presents stories about and the memories of 28 former and current players on the Chicago Bears football team.

Game of my life.
ISBN: 9781613210697 OCLC: 759908514

Sports Pub., New York : ©2012.

Game of my life.
ISBN: 1596701005 OCLC: 70106998

Sports Pub. L.L.C., Champaign, IL : 2006.

Game of my life.
ISBN: 1596702915 OCLC: 213495385

Sports Pub., Champaign, IL : ©2008.

Indianapolis Colts :
ISBN: 9781610586818 OCLC: 854853874

MVP Books, Minneapolis, MN : 2013.

A complete illustrated history of the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts, including the team's early era in Baltimore--Provided by publisher--

Indianapolis Colts :
ISBN: 0760343306 OCLC: 781679654

MVP Books, Minneapolis, MN : 2013.

""A complete illustrated history of the National Football League's Indianapolis Colts, including the team's early era in Baltimore"--Provided by publisher"--

  Joe Louis :
ISBN: 0786459077 OCLC: 817595851

"Joe Louis held the heavyweight boxing championship longer than any other fighter and defended it a record 25 times. During the 1930s and 1940s, the owner of the heavyweight title belt was the most prominent sports competitor not aligned with a team sport. The biography of Louis outlines his rise from poverty to the best-known African American"--Provided by publisher.

Jump shot :
ISBN: 9780882409931 OCLC: 861208557

Kenny Sailors was a basketball star, and the inventor of the jump shot. He attended the University of Wyoming and was MVP in 1943 in college AA basketball. After WWII, he spent five years as an early player in the new NBA. As a youngster, Kenny was five-foot-seven but his older brother was six-foot-two so when playing basketball, Kenny had to jump up over his brother to get off a shot. That is how the jump shot was born, and Kenny used it in college and professional basketball. He played in Denver and several other cities whose team names have now changed, but he also played for the Boston Celtics with Bob Cousy. After he left the NBA, he moved to Alaska and in 1965 settled in the Glennallen area, where he was a fishing and hunting guide in the Wrangle Mountains for thirty-five years. He now lives in Idaho, and his son lives and flies aircraft from Antioch, California--

LeBron James :
ISBN: 0313343616 OCLC: 220906386

LeBron James is simultaneously on the cutting edge of basketball greatness and as a cultural icon. Through the international exposure of the National Basketball Association and its televised games in more than 100 countries, and as a global marketing presence, the star of the Cleveland Cavaliers is rapidly becoming one of the world's most familiar faces. This biography traces the key events in the life of LeBron James during his dizzying rise to fame in high school to his emergence as the first overall pick in the NBA draft as an 18-year-old, to his carrying the underdog Cavaliers to the 2007.

Lowell Thomas Jr :
ISBN: 9780882409832 OCLC: 954537702

Lowell Thomas, Jr. is a famed Alaskan who made his mark as a Bush pilot and by serving in state government, but who also has had a lifetime's worth of adventures that have taken him around the world. Thomas, now eighty-nine, and living in Anchorage, is the son of one of the most widely known Americans of the twentieth century, and his connection to Lowell Thomas Sr. (1892?1981) enabled him to jump start his life of adventure at a very early age. From the time he was fifteen, Lowell Thomas, Jr. has been involved in a series of journeys that have seen him cross paths with many famous lives and take part in many historic events.

Lowell Thomas Jr. :
ISBN: 088240914X OCLC: 828482446

"Lowell Thomas Jr. is a famed Alaskan who made his mark as a Bush pilot and by serving in state government, but who also has had a lifetime's worth of adventures that have taken him around the world. Thomas, now eighty-nine, and living in Anchorage, is the son of one of the most widely known Americans of the twentieth century, and his connection to Lowell Thomas Sr. (1892-1981) enabled him to jump-start his life of adventure at a very early age. From the time he was fifteen, Lowell Thomas Jr. has been involved in a series of journeys that have seen him cross paths with many famous lives and take part in many historic events"--

My season on the Kenai :
ISBN: 0882409069 OCLC: 813536808

"The Kenai is a world-class salmon river that attracts fishermen from all over the world, but is also the "everyman" river of the great fishing paradise of Alaska because of its accessibility. The Kenai River is special not only because world-record salmon are caught in its stunning green waters, but because it is on the road system and thus can be accessed by the average fisherman, not merely the well-to-do who pay huge sums to fish in remote Alaskan areas controlled by private lodges and that are approachable only by small planes. In a state that takes at least a share of its identity from its image as The Last Frontier and concurrently as a fishing haven, the Kenai River is the lifeblood of a sporting world and industry that offers an incomparable fishing experience to the resident, the tourist, the hardcore fisherman, the beginner, and the expert. Fishermen in the Lower 48 states, seduced by images of gigantic fighting salmon, dream of some day fishing the picturesque waters of the Kenai River. Fishermen who live in Southcentral Alaska, including Alaska's largest city of Anchorage, plot their fishing seasons around the arrival of king salmon, red salmon, and silver salmon. To all of them, the Kenai is a magical river. Not only is it the place of dreams, where an angler might catch a world record or world-class fish, it is, despite its nearness to the small cities of Kenai and Soldotna, still a wilderness. At one bend in the river there might be a hotel, a private summer home, or a forest since the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge also swallows the Kenai River. The eighty-file-mile-long Kenai River is, more or less, two rivers. The upper river prohibits motorized boats altogether. The lower river features them. The upper river invites rafters and fly-fishermen. The lower river offers savvy guides who know each turn of the river, each rock's placement, and the opportunity to fish for 70-, 80-, or 90-pound salmon through specially developed styles appropriate to the area and the species. The upper river allows for Dolly Varden and rainbow trout fishing. The lower river emphasizes big salmon. Each summer thousands of anglers fish the Kenai River. They bring millions of dollars worth of business to the Kenai Peninsula while following their dreams and bringing home stories of wilderness fishing adventures."--

  My Season on the Kenai River :
ISBN: 1299618049 OCLC: 847132688

Graphic Arts Books, 2013.

One second to glory :
ISBN: 0970849346 OCLC: 48529112

Epicenter Press/Alaska Book Adventures, Kenmore, WA : ©2001.

In 1978, Dick Mackey claimed the most dramatic victory ever in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, crossing the finish line in Nome a mere one second ahead of Rick Swenson after a two-week, 1,149 mile-run from Anchorage. Many years later Alaskans still shake their heads in amazement. In One Second to Glory, Mackey shares this and many other adventures: Making a home in the forntier state in the heady first day s of Statehood; Surviving the 1964 earthquake and helping rebuild Alaska; Mushing against ""Doc"" Lombard and George Attla in the heyday of sprint racing; Helping Joe Redington organize the Iditarod Trail SLed Dog Race; Experience 82 degrees below zero at Coldfoot, his famous Arctic Circle truck stop; Mackey's colorful stories are told in his own words in interviews with Lew Freedman, outdoor adventure writer for the Chicago Tribune and longtime former sports editor of the Anchorage Daily News. Freedman has written seventeen books about Alaska.

  Pelé :
ISBN: 1440829802 OCLC: 840465030

How did a young boy born into poverty become not only an international soccer star but a celebrity who visited and dined with kings and presidents? Where did the passion that fueled his success originate?

Racing toward recovery :
ISBN: 1941821448 OCLC: 952108807

For the first time, Alaska musher and tribal leader Mike Williams shares his remarkable life story with veteran sports writer Lew Freedman. Williams is a man of many parts, a sports figure, a government figure, a leader of his people, a husband, a father, and a Native man with one foot firmly planted in the twenty-first century and another firmly planted in the roots of a culture that dates back 10,000 years in Alaska. Williams competed in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race fifteen times, and was once the only Yup'ik Eskimo musher, a symbol to all Natives around the state. Although he was never a top contender for the Iditarod title, he was a competitor whom everyone cheered because he resolved that to shed light on one of Alaska's greatest threats to the health and future of its Native people, he would carry in his dog sled pages (pounds worth) of signatures of people who had pledged sobriety. A Yup'ik Eskimo, Williams saw firsthand how alcohol could devastate people as surely as if they had contracted a deadly flu. Each of his brothers had succumbed to alcohol-related accidents, incidents, or illnesses. Williams describes how he recovered from his dependence on alcohol through religion, loved ones, and racing dogs. For many years, Williams carried those sobriety pledges in his sled, focusing attention on a troubling, seemingly intractable problem. Williams gained national attention, being profiled by CNN, Sports Illustrated, and Good Morning America. Fellow Iditarod competitors have voted him 'the most inspirational musher.'

Real Alaskans :
ISBN: 0888392540 OCLC: 22117688

Hancock House, Surrey, B.C. : ©1990.

Biographies of modern Alaskans who are finding new challenges, yet trying to reach back into the past and preserve it.

  Seattle Mariners /
ISBN: 1624034853 OCLC: 903363319

A beginner's history of the Mariners, covering the beginnings of the franchise, the greatest and lowest moments of the team, and the best players and managers. Fun facts, anecdotes, and sidebars round out the story of the club.

Spirit of the wind :
ISBN: 0945397933 OCLC: 47199598

Epicenter Press, Kenmore, Wash. : ©2000.

For decades, George Attla dominated the sport of sprint mushing. This is the biography of an extraordinary man and his dogs whose uncommon strength, agility, speed, and endurance are the stuff of champions.

Stadium stories :
ISBN: 0762740949 OCLC: 67405717

Insiders' Guide, Guilford, Conn. : 2006.

Summer to Remember :
ISBN: 1613216475 OCLC: 879371661

While the Cleveland Indians are known lately more for being cellar dwellers than world champions, that wasn't the case in 1948. Ranked by the Sporting News as the ninth-best team in baseball history, the '48 Indians were a colorful group of guys, led by the always colorful Bill Veeck, the future Hall of Famer who was running his first team. But the Indians weren't just well run in the front office; their team on the field was comprised of seven future Hall of Famers. Player-manager Lou Boudreau would not only lead his team to the playoffs, but would also become the first shortstop to ever win the American League's Most Valuable Player award. He also relied on pitchers Bob Feller, Bob Lemon, and Negro leagues legend Satchel Paige (then forty-one years old), as well as second baseman Joe Gordon and right fielder Larry Doby, who followed Jackie Robinson by only a few weeks in breaking the color barrier in baseball. The Indians finished the '48 season at 97 58 and were tied with Joe McCarthy's Boston Red Sox, which led to the first-ever one game playoff in American League history. The Indians were victorious and would then defeat the Boston Braves in six games to win the World Series. The Monsters of Municipal Stadium is a fantastic look at one of the greatest teams ever to play the game, and at how everyone involved in this extraordinary season from the players to management made 1948 a memorable year for baseball and the city of Cleveland.

  Ted Lambert :
ISBN: 1602231656 OCLC: 860712158

  The 50 greatest players in Boston Red Sox history /
ISBN: 1933822740 OCLC: 841228382

The 50 Greatest Plays in Chicago Bears Football History.
ISBN: 1600781225 OCLC: 798536043

Triumph Books, Chicago : 2008.

In a series that explores the logic-defying comebacks and tough losses, the dramatic interceptions, fumbles, game-winning field goals, and touchdowns that shape a fan's greatest memories of their beloved team, this book does not disappoint as the ultimate collector's item for Bears fans. It chronicles the most famous moments in Chicago football history, including Gale Sayers's six-touchdown day against the 49ers, Walter Payton's 275-yard performance in 1977, Devin Hester's Super Bowl XLI kickoff return, and the dominating team performance of Super Bowl XX. The descriptions of each play are acc.

The Packers experience :
ISBN: 9781610587600 OCLC: 856525689

MVP Books, Minneapolis, MN : 2013.

Experience the Packers like never before in this beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated look at more than 90 years of Green Bay football. With season-by-season recaps, player profiles, stats, and glorious images, this unique tribute immerses you in all the memorable moments and heroes of the green and gold--Jacket.

The Packers experience :
ISBN: 0760344507 OCLC: 843025394

"Experience the Packers like never before in this beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated look at more than 90 years of Green Bay football. With season-by-season recaps, player profiles, stats, and glorious images, this unique tribute immerses you in all the memorable moments and heroes of the green and gold"--Jacket.

  The tailors of Tomaszow :
ISBN: 9780896728783 OCLC: 861955991

Preserving the collective memory of a community that is no more. Seven decades after the Nazis annihilated the Jewish community of Tomaszow-Mazowiecki, Poland, comes a gripping eyewitness narrative told by one of the youngest survivors of the Holocaust, as well as through first-hand accounts of other Tomaszow survivors. This unique communal memoir presents a rare view of Eastern European Jewry, before, during, and after World War II. It is both the memoir of a child and of a lost Jewish community, an unvarnished story in which disputes, controversy, and scandal all play a role in capturing the true flavor of life in this time and place. Nearly 14,000 Jews, one-third of the town's population, lived in Tomaszow-Mazowiecki before World War II, many making their living as tailors and seamstresses. Only 250 of them survived the Holocaust, in part because of their skill with a needle and thread. Engaging and highly accessible, The Tailors of Tomaszow is a powerful resource for educators and a compelling read for anyone wishing to gain a deeper, more personal understanding of Eastern European Jewry and the Holocaust--

  Thunder on the Tundra :
ISBN: 1299605567 OCLC: 843332359

Alaska Northwest Books, 2011.

This is the moving story of high school students, who live in an isolated village at the top of Alaska, starting a football team. Against long odds, the Whalers had to practice and play in extreme conditions and travel hundreds of miles from home when they went on the 'road, ' flying for each game. They ended their first season victorious, while maintaining their subsistence hunter-gather culture.

Thunder on the tundra :
ISBN: 0882407422 OCLC: 226212954

Alaska Northwest Books, Anchorage : ©2008.

Seasoned journalist Lew Freedman captures this inspiring story of the Whalers, the only football team above the Arctic Circle: 330 north to be exact. Of the 44 Eskimo, Tongan, Samoan, Asian-American, African-American and Caucasian teenagers who signed up for this experiment, only four had ever played organized football before.

White Sox essential :
ISBN: 1572439327 OCLC: 852159902

Triumph Books, Chicago : ©2007.

A one-stop record containing everything White Sox fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

Yukon quest :
ISBN: 1935347055 OCLC: 613705303

 

 

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