Tom Stanton

Detroit 1936: In a city abuzz over its unrivaled sports success, baseball fan Dayton Dean is arrested for murder. Though said to have a childlike intelligence, Dean possesses a vivid memory and a hunger for attention. He gives police a story about a secret Klan-like organization called the Black Legion, responsible for countless murders, floggings, and fire bombings. The Legion has tens of thousands of members in the Midwest, among them politicians and notable citizens--even, possibly, a beloved Detroit athlete. When Deans revelations explode, they all seek cover. Award-winning author Tom Stanton's stunning work of history, crime, and sports, weaves together the terror of the Legion with the magnificent athletic ascension of Detroit. Richly portraying 1930s America, and featuring figures like Louis, the country's most famous black man; Jewish slugger Hank Greenberg; anti-Semitic Henry Ford; radio priest Father Coughlin; and J. Edgar Hoover, Terror in the City of Champions is a rollicking true tale set at the confluence of hard luck, hope, victory, and violence.

murder, baseball, and the secret society that shocked Depression-era Detroit

Terror in the city of champions

Claude Bernardin

Since his U.S. debut 25 years ago, Elton John has had a top-40 hit every year. This volume chronicles his success in the popular music world.

The Encyclopedia of Elton John

Rocket Man

The author of The Final Season explores his relationships with his father and brother while remembering the childhood love of baseball that inspired his dream of visiting Cooperstown before the tragic death of his mother. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.

A Father, Two Sons, and the Journey of a Lifetime

The Road to Cooperstown

Bobby Richardson

Ravi Shankar

Jeff Williams

Keith Thompson

Lisa Wilson

D.L. Lang

Nina Serrano

Grey

Diana Alden

Olivia Anderson

Kyrah Ayers

Daniel Badiali

Genea Brice

Lei Kim Sawyer Chavez

Julia Dvorin

Johanna Ely

Quest Dreams

Amy Gioletti

G.O. 284

Morgan Hannigan

Travis Jackson, Jr.

Kathleen

Jeff Kingman

Chuck Lamplighter

Lady D

Lee Lee Ain't Misbehavin'

Lucinda Lees

Aqueila M. Lewis-Ross

Myra Nissen

Kelliane Parker

Poetic Old Soul

Carol Pearlman

Fred Ross-Perry

Erika Snyder

Jeremy Snyder

Regina Sparrow

Diana Tenes

Amber Von Nagel

Becky Bishop White

James Westley

Lois Wu

An anthology of poetry, song lyrics, and prose featuring writers from Vallejo, California: Diana Alden, Olivia Anderson, Kyrah Ayers, Daniel Badiali, Vallejo Poet Laureate Emerita Genea Brice, Jessica Brown, Lei Kim Sawyer Chavez, G.O. 284, Morgan Hannigan, Travis Jackson, Jr., Kathleen, Jeffrey Kingman, Chuck Lamplighter, Vallejo Poet Laureate D.L. Lang, Lady-D, Lee Lee, Lucinda Lees, Aqueila M. Lewis, Carol Pearlman, Nina Serrano, Ravi Shankar, Erika Snyder, Jeremy Snyder, Regina Sparrow, Diana Tenes, Keith Thompson, Amber Von Nagel, Jeff Williams, Lisa Wilson, and Lois Wu. With additional contributions by: Julia Dvorin, Benicia Poet Laureate Emerita Johanna Ely, Ranjit Singh Gill, Amy Gioletti, Grey, Myra Nissen, Kelliane Parker, Poetic Old Soul, Bobby Richardson, Fred Ross-Perry, Benicia Poet Laureate Tom Stanton, Becky Bishop White, and James Westley. The idea behind this book is to shine a light on as many artists and wordsmiths as possible. It is to allow them to freely express themselves. They were not bound to form, subject matter, or even agreement with one another, so as to truly reflect the diversity of this community. This book contains both stark realism and wondrous beauty. There are poems on love, loss, pain, struggle, justice, peace, revolution, art, and many poems that celebrate our city, its people, and its places. There is a subject index at the end of this book if you’d like to skip around. You’re sure to find something that suits your fancy. Fair warning to parents who wish to shield their children, this is not a book for little kids. No one was censored. Each contributor was encouraged to be themselves, to use whatever words they saw fit, and while it is a book that came together on a common theme of Vallejo, it also contains many other subjects that each poet was passionate about. Their words will make you think about the world and its many varying perspectives, experiences, and people. All contributors were embraced and accepted, even those with the tiniest of connections to the Vallejo community or merely only connected to myself in some cases. Anyone who submitted was welcome. Their writings remain their intellectual property, so reprint requests should go to the original authors of these pieces. This book is merely an opportunity of artistic unity that reaches across all boundaries.The most important part of writing, in this editor’s humble opinion, is the heart of the writer, and this book contains loads of it. These are the pure, uncensored expressions of the hearts of each writer, just as contradictory as life itself, so full of personal and universal truth. Collectively, this book is better than anything each of us could write on our own, and I am honored to have been its editor. Even if I had not been its editor, this is a book I would enjoy reading. The views expressed in this chapbook are those of the individual poets, not necessarily always shared by the city of Vallejo, its poet laureate, the Vallejo Peace Project, or perhaps, even yourself. You may vehemently disagree with some of their words. Please keep an open mind and heart anyways. Their poetry, personalities, backgrounds, and ideas are as gorgeously diverse as our city, and this book aims to welcome everyone within its pages, to give each artist total creative freedom for whatever vision they may wish to express, and to expose each reader to the beauty of their words.

A Poetry Anthology

Verses, Voices, & Visions of Vallejo

The story of the decades-long relationship between two legends of American baseball--arch-rivals Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth--is set against the backdrop of a little-known series of 1941 charity golf matches, known as the Has-Beens Golf Championship. 50,000 first printing.

Baseball's Fiercest Rivals: A Surprising Friendship and the 1941 Has-Beens Golf Championship

Ty and The Babe

Elton John from A-Z

Early in the twentieth century, fate thrust a young Babe Ruth into the gleaming orbit of Ty Cobb. The resulting collision produced a dazzling explosion and a struggle of mythic magnitude. At stake was not just baseball dominance, but eternal glory and the very soul of a sport. For much of fourteen seasons, the Cobb-Ruth rivalry occupied both men and enthralled a generation of fans. Even their retirement from the ball diamond didn't extinguish it. On the cusp of America's entry into World War II, a quarter century after they first met at Navin Field, Cobb and Ruth rekindled their long-simmering feud-this time on the golf course. Ty and Babe battled on the fairways of Long Island, New York; Newton, Massachusetts; and Grosse Ile, Michigan; in a series of charity matches that spawned national headlines and catapulted them once more into the spotlight. Ty and The Babe is the story of their remarkable relationship. It is a tale of grand gestures and petty jealousies, superstition and egotism, spectacular feats and dirty tricks, mind games and athleticism, confrontations, conflagrations, good humor, growth, redemption, and, ultimately, friendship. Spanning several decades, Ty and The Babe conjures the rollicking cities of New York, Boston, and Detroit and the raucous world of baseball from 1915 to 1928, as it moved from the Deadball days of Cobb to the Lively Ball era of Ruth. It also visits the spring and summer of 1941, starting with the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, where Cobb formally challenged Ruth, and continuing with the golf showdown that saw both men employ secret weapons. On these pages, author Tom Stanton challenges the stereotypes that have cast Cobb forever as a Satan and Ruth as a Santa Claus. Along the way, he brings to life a parade of memorable characters: Bobby Jones, Walter Hagen, Grantland Rice, Tris Speaker, Lou Gehrig, Will Rogers, Joe DiMaggio, a trick shot–shooting former fugitive, and a fifteen-year-old caddy with an impeccable golf lineage. No other ball players dominated their time as formidably as Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth. Even today, many decades since either man walked this earth, they tower over the sport. Who was better? Who was the greatest? Those questions followed them throughout their baseball careers, into retirement, and onto the putting greens. That they linger yet is a testament to their talents and personalities.

A New York Times Bestseller Detroit, mid-1930s: In a city abuzz over its unrivaled sports success, gun-loving baseball fan Dayton Dean became ensnared in the nefarious and deadly Black Legion. The secretive, Klan-like group was executing a wicked plan of terror, murdering enemies, flogging associates, and contemplating armed rebellion. The Legion boasted tens of thousands of members across the Midwest, among them politicians and prominent citizens—even, possibly, a beloved athlete. Terror in the City of Champions opens with the arrival of Mickey Cochrane, a fiery baseball star who roused the Great Depression’s hardest-hit city by leading the Tigers to the 1934 pennant. A year later he guided the team to its first championship. Within seven months the Lions and Red Wings follow in football and hockey—all while Joe Louis chased boxing’s heavyweight crown. Amidst such glory, the Legion’s dreadful toll grew unchecked: staged “suicides,” bodies dumped along roadsides, high-profile assassination plots. Talkative Dayton Dean’s involvement would deepen as heroic Mickey’s Cochrane’s reputation would rise. But the ballplayer had his own demons, including a close friendship with Harry Bennett, Henry Ford’s brutal union buster. Award-winning author Tom Stanton weaves a stunning tale of history, crime, and sports. Richly portraying 1930s America, Terror in the City of Champions features a pageant of colorful figures: iconic athletes, sanctimonious criminals, scheming industrial titans, a bigoted radio priest, a love-smitten celebrity couple, J. Edgar Hoover, and two future presidents, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan. It is a rollicking true story set at the confluence of hard luck, hope, victory, and violence. .

Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression-era Detroit

Terror in the City of Champions

Tom Stanton

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