CANR
WORK TITLE: The Tiger Slam
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CITY: New York
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LAST VOLUME: CANR 308
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PERSONAL
Born October 16, 1956; married Pamela Marin (a journalist and writer).
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer, editor. Previously wrote for Sports Illustrated, GQ, Details, Vogue, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, and Golf Digest; served as senior editor for Sports Illustrated, beginning 1997; executive editor of Travel and Leisure Golf; and editor-in-chief of Golf; sports-radio host in New York for two years.
AWARDS:Golf Writers’ Association of America Feature-Writing Award, 1998; Herbert Warren Wind Award, United States Golf Association, 2007, for Tommy’s Honor.
WRITINGS
Contributor of articles to periodicals, including New York Times, Wall Street Journal, GQ, Smithsonian.
Tommy’s Honor was adapted as a motion picture of the same name, 2016, written by Cook and his wife, Pamela Marin, and directed by Jason Connery.
SIDELIGHTS
Kevin Cook is a New York-based writer and editor who has contributed to a variety of periodicals, including Sports Illustrated, GQ, Details, Vogue, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, and Golf Digest. He also edited both Sports Illustrated and Travel and Leisure Golf and was editor-in-chief of Golf, where he raised circulation to 1.4 million readers during his tenure.
Over the course of his career, Cook has worked with such talented athletes as Jack Nicklaus and writers of the caliber of Gore Vidal. In addition, he has made guest appearances on television and radio as a golf analyst.
Cook’s first book, Tommy’s Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf’s Founding Father and Son, tells the story of two key figures in the game, both of whom were four-time winners of the British Open. Cook thoroughly researched the lives of the two Morrises and puts to rest a number of myths concerning their careers. Partly because the book includes details about other members of the Morris family, Tommy’s Honor has broad appeal to all readers interested in lively biographies, whether or not they are familiar with golf. Cook’s research took advantage of the many books, some dating from the nineteenth century, written about the Morris family and their golf games. He used periodicals and newspapers of the day to round out his vivid portraits. The result is a book that provides readers with a fascinating look at the story of two men vitally important to the game of golf and to Scottish history, as well as a look into the Scottish way of life during the period.
Bill Ott commented in a review for Booklist: “Cook shows how golf, though quickly claimed by the aristocracy, had its roots in the working classes.” John Wagner, writing for the Cybergolf Web site, declared: “This is a great biography and exceedingly well written. The characters are so alive in the story.” Bob Weisgerber, in a review for Golf Today Online, called Cook’s effort “an absolute gem, definitely one of the most readable books written on the subject of golf in the last decade. Kevin Cook … has done the world of golf a big favor by focusing on the unmatched Father and Son duo.”
Cook’s 2011 book, Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything, is a biography of con man and gambler Alvin “Titanic” Thompson. Called “Titanic” because he sank everyone he conned, Thompson plied his trade as a professional gambler and hustler throughout much of the early twentieth century and was the inspiration behind the character Sky Masterson in the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls. The book details many of his elaborate and well-planned cons, as well as his private life, including a succession of child brides. The book has ties to Cook’s earlier work, for Thompson was a hustler on the golf course, and major golf figures such as Lee Trevino, Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, and Ray Floyd played roles in Thompson’s troubled and sometimes violent life.
Writing in the Seattle Times, reviewer Adam Woog stated that “Cook tells Thompson’s story with ease and panache,” while a reviewer for Publishers Weekly called the book a “lyrical account of the gambling legend.” David Crane, in Spectator, wrote that “the story is told here with just the right pace and tone.” In a review in Booklist, Gilbert Taylor concluded that “readers will revel in every rambunctious page” as they follow Thompson’s life, and in the same vein, a reviewer for Kirkus Reviews remarked that “Thompson becomes an irresistible folk legend in Cook’s capable hands.”
In 2012, Cook turned his biographer’s eye to an African American pioneer in entertainment in Flip: The Inside Story of TV’s First Black Superstar. In this work he examines the life of comedian and variety show host Clerow “Flip” Wilson both on and off the camera and in the context of the racial tumult of the mid-twentieth century. Flip endured an emotionally scarring childhood, Cook relates, a darkness that endured into his adult life. However, Flip was determined to succeed in the entertainment business, and Cook details his decade touring in comedy clubs. When television opportunities finally came knocking, he tamed his edgy act for a broader audience. His success as a comic guest on such television shows as Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show ultimately led to the development of his own variety show, The Flip Wilson Show, in the 1970s. This platform, Cook relates, enabled Flip to showcase racially diverse entertainers, some of whom eventually eclipsed him in popularity, such as George Carlin and Richard Pryor. Drawing on Wilson’s own writings as well as interviews with his son, Kevin, and peers, Cook explores Flip’s professional and personal challenges and triumphs, as well as his legacy.
Reviewers generally praised Flip as a needed account of an important but frequently overlooked public figure. “Cook’s fiercely honest biography captures the tumultuous and winning personality of the man who introduced many memorable characters to the world,” wrote a Publishers Weekly critic. Rick Roche, writing in Booklist called the book “a well-told story of a man desperate to succeed in the rapidly changing world of American entertainment.” While a Kirkus Reviews contributor appreciated that Flip “gives a largely forgotten TV pioneer his due,” the critic felt that “readers do not come away with a real appreciation for what made Wilson tick.” Terry Bosky, on the other hand, called Flip “a personal and tragic biography an important and recommended piece of African American history.”
Cook followed Flip with an account that brings together both sports and entertainment: The Last Headbangers: NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless ’70s, the Era That Created Modern Sports. It was in this era, Cook contends, that the unruly realm of professional football was transformed into an entertainment machine and eclipsed baseball as the dominant American sport. Cook’s history encompasses both teams and individual players as he tells stories of larger-than-life personalities, from Mean Joe Greene to Broadway Joe Namath, and recounts the emergence of sizzling rivalries such as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders. He also relates the rise of such iconic brands as the Dallas Cowboys, who, through their scantily clad cheerleaders, added sex appeal that would enhance television viewing. In addition to behind-the-scenes unruliness, which included rampant performance-enhancing drug use, Cook examines on-the-field rule changes, such as the forward pass, that forever altered the game.
“There may be a bit too much football lingo here … for the casual fan, but Cook does not go overboard. An enjoyable and insightful look at a wild and wooly era in American sports,” wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Alan Moores, writing in Booklist, called The Last Headbangers “an entertaining narrative of the NFL’s wildly colorful players, teams, rivalries, and games.” Greg Schneider, reviewing The Last Headbangers in the Washington Post, took issue with Cook’s lack of attention to the business deals that, in Schneider’s opinion, are the real root of the sport’s transformation. “The Steelers-Raiders rivalry doesn’t really explain how football became the modern product that today brings in billions upon billions in revenue,” Schneider contends. “Cook does devote some attention to the rise of the Dallas Cowboys as (gag) America’s Team and that organization’s cool corporate efficiency,” he added. “That’s probably more to the point of how the NFL changed in the ’70s, but it’s not as much fun to read about. No, for fun you want Steelers vs. Raiders. Just suspend your moral judgment.”
Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime That Changed America appeared in connection with the fiftieth anniversary of the shocking murder of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese, a twenty-eight-year-old who lived in Kew Gardens, a section of Queens in New York City. At about three o’clock in the morning on March 13, 1964, she was returning home from work when she was brutally stabbed to death and sexually assaulted by Winston Moseley, an African American man who apparently picked her as his victim at random. The story became a worldwide sensation after the New York Times reported that thirty-eight witnesses saw the crime but did nothing in response. The case, which spawned the term “bystander effect” and became a standard fixture in social-psychological studies, seemed emblematic of numerous urban ills during the 1960s, when racial tensions were boiling over, crime rates were rising, society was becoming increasingly fragmented, people seemed to be growing indifferent to the needs of their neighbors, and old standards of morality seemed to be eroding. The purpose of Cook’s book, however, is not simply to recount the crime and its aftermath but to challenge in some of the mythology that has surrounded the case. Relying on interviews and police reports, Cook notes that the “thirty-eight witnesses” were a myth, likely the result of a clerical error at the police department. The police logged more than forty interview statements, but all but a handful these statements were taken from people who lived in the vicinity but did not actually witness the crime. The actual number of witnesses was perhaps five or six, and at least one witness insisted that he did in fact call the police. Cook’s account captures the terrifying randomness of the murder and provides details about Moseley’s arrest and prosecution. Cook also makes clear something that was not reported at the time: that Genovese was a lesbian, a fact that, at the time, would likely have reduced sympathy for her and complicated the investigation. The book charts the grief experienced by her partner, Mary Ann Zielonko, and the media’s sensationalistic coverage of the murder. Cook notes, too, that despite the inaccuracies in reports of the crime, the case had some positive outcomes, including the development of the 911 emergency system, Good Samaritan laws, and Neighborhood Watch groups.
Kitty Genovese attracted considerable attention from reviewers, who generally admired the book. A Publishers Weekly reviewer found it “insightful,” while a Kirkus Reviews contributor called it “an engrossing true-crime tour de force.” Mahnaz Dar, writing for Library Journal, remarked that “the author successfully infuses new life into a case,” adding: “Though this is a well-researched account of a crime, more important, it’s a nuanced examination of the cultural significance of Genovese’s slaying and its legacy.” Boston Globe writer Michael Washburn noted that Cook “casts a critical eye on the urban-legend aspects of the popularly accepted version of Kitty’s death and strives to contextualize the slaying amid the turmoil and promise of the early 1960s.” Writing for the Washington Post, Jonathan Yardley called the book “a useful corrective, written in standard journalese but researched with considerable care and on the whole first-rate.” Agreeing with this assessment was John Capouya, who wrote in the Tampa Bay Times that Cook’s reporting is “is rich and deep.” Capouya singled out for praise “Cook’s portrait of Moseley, a true psychopath,” calling it “chilling and compelling.”
In a review of the book for the Christian Science Monitor, Jordan Michael Smith asserted that “Cook manages to maintain an impressive level of tension in a book about a half-century old case about which everyone thinks they know the outcome.” Smith also found Cook’s portrait of the killer “compelling”: “It is a testament to Kitty Genovese that the author avoids unnecessary judgment in favor of letting Winston Moseley … portray himself as a sociopath with his own chilling words.” Writing for The Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, Kat Long pointed out that “Kevin Cook argues that there was much more to the Kitty Genovese story than what’s presented in sociology textbooks.” The book, in Long’s view, “aims to tell a richer story with first-hand accounts and unpublished court documents.” Long objected, however, to “Cook’s storytelling style,” which, in her view, “often strays … and takes the reader down dozens of cultural culs-de-sac with little direct relevance to the main narrative.” Finally, Jon M. Sands and Katherine L. Hanna, in a lengthy review of the book published in Jurimetrics Journal of Law, Science and Technology, called the book “definitive,” explaining that the author “explores what happened that cold March morning. Cook has done more than write a ‘true crime’ exposé; his examination does more than just retrace steps and recount the terrible crime that occurred that night. He gives us a sense of what New York and America were like in 1964, including insight into the closeted gay life; police work; and capital litigation. Cook also restores the victim as a person. He rescues the victim from being just the ignored stranger in an indifferent cityscape into a person, tragically killed and mourned to this day.” Sands and Hanna, however, objected that “the subtitle trumpeting after the colon, ‘the crime that changed America,’ is too hyperbolic. Though the murder became a symbol and effected social and legal changes, many of those changes would have happened without the shock of Kitty Genovese’s death. The crime became infamous and spurred research, but saying it transformed the country seems a reach. In the end, the heartrending truth, written so movingly by Cook, is that the murder of Kitty Genovese would have passed but little noticed if it was not for the efforts of the media.”
The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families tells in part the story of Cook’s father, Art Cook, who was a minor-league pitcher. In Art’s later years, Cook called him almost every night to talk about a variety of topics, including baseball. The two called those phone conversations “the Dad Report,” and they inspired Cook to write about baseball in families and how baseball could enable fathers to help their sons grow into the game—and grow into men. He examines the lives and careers of some of the most famous father-son duos in baseball, including the Boones (Ray, Bob, and Bob’s sons, Bret and Aaron), Cal Ripken Sr. and Jr., the Griffeys, the Bonds, and the Bells. He also discusses basketball player Michael Jordan’s foray into minor-league ball, a step he took to help fulfill a dream held by his father. The book even includes a chapter about Babe Ruth’s adopted daughter, Julia Ruth Stevens, who, in her nineties, continued to throw out ceremonial first pitches. Cook intersperses details about the game, including statistics and nostalgic reminiscences of summer afternoon games on sun-drenched fields. He does not ignore some of the warts on baseball, exploring, for example, the question of what the career of Barry Bonds would have been like without the performance-enhancing drugs that marred his reputation and without the long shadow cast by his father.
The Dad Report garnered several positive reviews. A Kirkus Reviews contributor noted that “the author writes to enshrine the best aspects of baseball, combining a father’s love of the game with a love for the son. An enjoyable exploration of baseball, fatherhood, and how ‘there’s something special about the way families share the game.’” Brian Sullivan, calling the book “absorbing” in Library Journal, commented that “Cook does a commendable job chronicling in an honest fashion, with struggles and difficulties included.” Booklist writer Mark Levine called The Dad Report a “unique sports book” and Cook “a gifted and kindhearted writer who has done his research.” A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that “what makes Cook special as a sportswriter is that he is able to balance the joy and pain of being a fan with the investigative and analytical skill of a professional journalist.” The reviewer added: “Cook’s prose has the perfect conversational style for combining baseball’s childlike dreams and grown-up realities into a satisfying narrative.”
Cook once told CA: “I was fascinated by the process of turning my book Tommy’s Honor into a screenplay. The forms are utterly different, but the characters’ struggles are the same. And when actors like Peter Mullan, Sam Neill, and Jack Lowden say your lines, they often come out sounding better than you imagined them.”
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Cook next published Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever, recounting the astonishing 1947 World Series’ seven games that Joe DiMaggio called the most exciting ever. After the war, with African American Jackie Robinson played in his first World Series, the New York Yankees battled the underdog Brooklyn Dodgers in the first-ever game that was televised, giving the month of games the moniker “electric October.” The book highlights six historically overlooked characters who were essential to the games: pitcher Bill Bevens, pinch hitter Cookie Lavagetto, outfielder and pinch hitter Al Gionfriddo, second baseman George “Snuffy” Stirnweiss, and controversial managers Burt Shotton and Bucky Harris.
In an interview at Macmillian, Cook said he wanted to write about the ultimate underdog story not for its famous players like Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio, “But the real heroes were role players… I think of Electric October as the best baseball story you never heard. A true story of momentary fame, friendship, teamwork, memory, and life’s biggest challenge: how we deal with the cards that fate deals us.”
“In profiling the lives of these six overlooked men, Cook reveals the complicated reality of baseball’s golden era,” noted a Publishers Weekly contributor. In Booklist, Mark Levine remarked: “Cook capably sums up the early and later lives of his subjects (none had distinguished careers).”
In Cook’s The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA’s Challenger Disaster, he recounts the 1986 space shuttle disaster that killed seven crew members, including the country’s first school teacher in space, Christa McAuliff, 37, who taught high school social studies in Concord, New Hampshire. The book covers McAuliff’s application among 11,000 other teachers to win the spot on the shuttle. After the tragic explosion on launch, Cook digs deep into the cause of the disaster, that was traced back to pressure from NASA and the White House to launch, even though conditions on an icy morning warranted caution. Cook’s research and reporting indicated the occupants of the shuttle did not die instantly, the errors in judgment, and cost-cutting measures. But he also highlights the energetic McAuliff, and the other occupants, including the first Jewish astronaut, the second Black astronaut, and the first Asian American and Buddhist in space.
This “solid, gripping new book…is careful in its examination of the political and emotional fallout from the crash. Like most events here, it’s presented with little editorializing,” according to Allison Stewart in Washington Post. The book’s focus “is the crew members and their families, which personalizes a pivotal moment in the history of NASA,” reported Laura Hiatt in Library Journal.
Cook returns to sports with The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played, which covers Tiger Wood’s journey to a career Grand Slam, becoming the first Black player and youngest player, at age 24, to do so. The book chronicles the 16 months in the early 2000s when Woods won golf’s four major championships in a row—the Open Championship, U.S. Open, PGA Championship, and Masters Tournament. In addition to a brief biography of Woods, the book includes match recaps, Woods as a perfectionist with his specially designed club and golf balls, the problem of windy courses, and interviews with caddies, coaches, opponents, and fans. “Chock-full of fascinating golf trivia, pithy profiles of players, and fairway dramas,” declared a writer in Kirkus Reviews, while a Publishers Weekly critic observed that “the well-known outcome leaves little room for suspense,” but Cook offers a “meticulous if dry account.”
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BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Biography, winter, 2014, review of Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime That Changed America, p. 340.
Booklist, April 15, 2007, Bill Ott, review of Tommy’s Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf’s Founding Father and Son, p. 16; October 15, 2010, Gilbert Taylor, review of Titanic Thompson: The Man Who Bet on Everything, p. 14; September 1, 2012, Alan Moores, review of The Last Headbangers: NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless ’70s, the Era That Created Modern Sports, p. 34; March 1, 2013, Rick Roche, review of Flip: The Inside Story of TV’s First Black Superstar, p. 11; February 1, 2014, Carol Haggas, review of Kitty Genovese, p. 4; May 1, 2015, Mark Levine, review of The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families, p. 70; August 1, 2017, Mark Levine, review of Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever, p. 13.
Bookmarks, May-June, 2014, review of Kitty Genovese, p. 59.
Christian Science Monitor, March 5, 2014, Jordan Michael Smith, review of Kitty Genovese.
Gay & Lesbian Review Worldwide, May-June, 2014, Kat Long, review of Kitty Genovese.
Jurimetrics Journal of Law, Science and Technology, fall, 2014, Jon M. Sands and Katherine L. Hanna, review of Kitty Genovese, p. 131.
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2010, review of Titanic Thompson, p. 31; July 15, 2012, review of The Last Headbangers; April 1, 2013, review of Flip; February 1, 2014, review of Kitty Genovese; April 1, 2015, review of The Dad Report.; December 1, 2024, review of The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played.
Library Journal, March 15, 2012, Terry Bosky, review of Flip, p. 110; February 15, 2014, Mahnaz Dar, review of Kitty Genovese, p. 119; April 15, 2015, Brian Sullivan, review of The Dad Report, p. 92; May 2021, Laura Hiatt, review of The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA’s Challenger Disaster, p. 79.
Publishers Weekly, September 6, 2010, review of Titanic Thompson, p. 31; January 21, 2013, review of Flip, p. 54; November 11, 2013, review of Kitty Genovese, p. 57; May 4, 2015, review of The Dad Report, p. 112; June 12, 2017, review of Electric October, p. 55; October 28, 2024, review of The Tiger Slam, p. 66.
Spectator, February 5, 2011, David Crane, “Consummate Con Artist,” review of Titanic Thompson, p. 37.
Washington Post, October 13, 2012, Greg Schneider, review of The Last Headbangers; June 21, 2021, Allison Stewart, review of The Burning Blue.
ONLINE
Boston Globe, https://www.bostonglobe.com/ (March 1, 2014), Michael Washburn, review of Kitty Genovese.
Cybergolf, http://www.cybergolf.com/ (November 11, 2007), Dr. John Wagner, review of Tommy’s Honor.
Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.com/ (June 12, 2015), Allen Barra, review of The Dad Report.
Examiner.com, http://www.examiner.com/ (March 7, 2011), Steven Ruddock, interview with author.
GolfClub Atlas.com, http://www.golfclubatlas.com/ (November 11, 2007), “Feature Interview with Kevin Cook.”
Golf Today Online, http://www.golftodaymagazine.com/ (July 1, 2007), Bob Weisgerber, review of Tommy’s Honor.
Macmillan, https://us.macmillan.com/ (June 2025), “Kevin Cook: A Conversation with the Author.”
NPR.org, http://www.npr.org/ (September 1, 2012), Scott Simon, interview with author; (March 4, 2014), “What Really Happened the Night Kitty Genovese Was Murdered?”
PFD Agency Web site, http://www.pfd.co.uk/ (November 11, 2007), author profile.
Seattle Times, http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ (December 18, 2010), Adam Woog, “Titanic Thompson: Kevin Cook’s Biography of the Ultimate Gambler.”
Sports Illustrated: Golf Plus, http://www.golf.com/ (October 22, 2010), Farrell Evans, interview with author.
Tampa Bay Times, http://www.tampabay.com/ (March 10, 2014), John Capouya, review of Kitty Genovese.
Washington Post, https://www.washingtonpost.com/ (March 14, 2014), Jonathan Yardley, review of Kitty Genovese.
A Conversation With the Author
Q: What made you want to write about the 1947 World Series?
A: It’s the ultimate underdog story. The ’47 Series featured stars we still celebrate today—Jackie Robinson and Joe DiMaggio. But the real heroes were role players. The underdog Brooklyn Dodgers had Cookie Lavagetto and Al Gionfriddo, a couple of substitutes who came off the bench to play hero for a day. The mighty Yankees had a skittish second baseman with a nervous stomach, Snuffy Stirnweiss, and a sore-armed pitcher, Bill Bevens, who came within one pitch of immortality.
As the radio announcer Red Barber put it, “For human stories, you’ll never beat this one.”
Q: Is there anything in the book for non-baseball fans?
A: Lots. My goal was to write a baseball book that isn’t mainly about baseball.
For me, the 1947 Series presented a chance to tell six remarkable life stories. Those four players and their managers, the long-forgotten Burt Shotton and Bucky Harris, crossed paths in Brooklyn and the Bronx in October of ’47. What happened that month changed their lives forever. For some, the epic ’47 Series was a memory to cherish. They’d get free drinks and pats on the back for the rest of their lives. Others were haunted by the same seven ballgames.
I think of Electric October as the best baseball story you never heard. A true story of momentary fame, friendship, teamwork, memory, and life’s biggest challenge: how we deal with the cards that fate deals us.
Q: You spent more than a year researching the book. What surprised you?
A: The ways the ’47 Series affected everything that came after. Even for players who lived 40 or 50 years after retiring from baseball, the events of 1947 headlined every story about them, right down to their obituaries. One shocker was discovering how one of the players died in an accident as bizarre as the ’47 Series. A better surprise was tracking down the players’ and managers’ children, who shared scrapbooks and memories—priceless pieces of the puzzle I was putting together.
Q: The 1947 World Series happened before you were born. Why write about that era?
A: It was such a vivid time. World War II was over, America was on top of the world. It was a golden age when baseball surpassed college football, boxing and horse racing to become the true national pastime. The ’47 Series was the first integrated World Series, thanks to Jackie Robinson, who broke the infamous color line that year. It was also the first televised World Series. People said baseball would never work on TV—the ball looked too small. But TV would change the game forever.
I found an obscure newspaper clipping I love. That fall, the Brooklyn-based Liebmann Brewery offered $100,000 to sponsor the TV broadcast. But Major League Baseball said no. Ford Motors and Gillette got the gig for $65,000. Why? “It would be wrong,” baseball commissioner Happy Chandler said, “for baseball to be sponsored by an alcoholic beverage.”
Q: You’ve written nine books, including the acclaimed Kitty Genovese: The Murder, the Bystanders, the Crime that Changed America, a true-crime story. But your last two have been about baseball. Why?
A: I played ball in high school, but was never nearly as good as my dad. He was a minor-league pitcher who scattered a few footnotes to baseball history. Dad gave up a tape-measure homer to Cincinnati Reds slugger Ted Kluszewski, which may still be orbiting the earth. Twice he pulled off the “Iron Man” stunt, winning both games of a doubleheader. Then he hurt his arm and came home to raise a family.
I wound up writing about the game for Sports Illustrated, Playboy and other magazines. I spent time in dugouts, palatial homes, and even strip clubs with baseball heroes and antiheroes. Pete Rose, Cal Ripken Jr., Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Clayton Kershaw, even Michael Jordan in his year as a minor-leaguer. They all see the game in their own ways. I’m still fascinated by this strange line of work they have.
Q: What will you remember most about writing Electric October?
A: It was very moving to me to see how these men’s life stories played out. Not to give too much away, but there was a sort of long-term heroism to some of their lives. And a bunch of surprises.
About the Author
Kevin Cook is the author of over ten books, including The Burning Blue, Ten Innings at Wrigley, and Kitty Genovese. He has written for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, GQ, Smithsonian, and many other publications and has often appeared on CNN, NPR, and Fox News. An Indiana native, he lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever
Kevin Cook. Holt, $30 (304p) ISBN 978-1-25011656-7
The 1947 World Series between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers was notable even if all the people involved weren't at the time, writes Cook (Titanic Thompson), who profiles six people in this entertaining, well-researched history. It was the first televised World Series, making the games viewable to millions of baseball fans, leading sports writers at the time to refer to the month of the series as "electric October." Yankee Bill Bevens, pitching in his fourth and final big-league season, was one out away from a no-hitter in game four before a little-used pinch hitter named Cookie Lavagetto came up to bat. Brooklyn's speedy Al Gionfriddo showed up Joe DiMaggio with a spectacular game-saving catch. One of the Yankees' best players was second baseman George "Snuffy" Stirnweiss, a man known for his steadiness and nerves. Managers Burt Shotton and Bucky Harris led their clubs to the World Series even though they hadn't been their team owners' first choices. In profiling the lives of these six overlooked men, Cook reveals the complicated reality of baseball's golden era. For example, many players returned to day jobs when their baseball careers were over. Bevens went back to his family farm and took jobs driving trucks and selling home appliances at Sears after his career ended. Stirnweiss became a banker and died a decade after the series in a New Jersey train crash. 16-page b&w insert. (Aug.)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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"Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever." Publishers Weekly, vol. 264, no. 24, 12 June 2017, pp. 55+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A495720707/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9b2b4340. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Cook, Kevin ELECTRIC OCTOBER Henry Holt (Adult Nonfiction) $30.00 8, 15 ISBN: 978-1-250-11656-7
Cook (The Dad Report: Fathers, Sons, and Baseball Families, 2017 etc.) chronicles the 1947 World Series between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers, approaching this narrow slice of sports history from an unusual angle.That year's Series resonates with the author for a few reasons: the quality of play in the two New York City ballparks, the historic nature of Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers becoming the first African-American to participate in the event, and the fact that it was the first televised Series. The overriding narrative line, however, involves the unexpectedly significant roles of four under-the-radar baseball players--Al Gionfriddo and Cookie Lavagetto for the Dodgers and Bill Bevens and Snuffy Stirnweiss for the Yankees--as well as the controversial managers for each team, Burt Shotton for the Dodgers (filling in for the suspended, better-known Leo Durocher) and Bucky Harris for the Yankees. Cook traces the lives of all six men before 1947 and then illuminates their roles during the Series. "The six of them played key roles in a World Series that Joe DiMaggio called 'the most exciting ever.' " In the third portion of the book, the author explains how his brief interval in the spotlight affected each man until his death. To be sure, all of his subjects led interesting lives in one way or another, but how they reached the Major Leagues and what happened to each after 1947 may only appeal to die-hard fans of baseball history. As a result, Cook's unusual approach might limit the audience. The narrative works best when the author narrates the drama of the seven-game series, which the Yankees won. For readers unfamiliar with the Robinson saga, the compact account might provide a gateway to further reading. An impressively reported, smoothly written book that nonetheless feels airy in its content.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Cook, Kevin: ELECTRIC OCTOBER." Kirkus Reviews, 15 June 2017. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A495427869/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=2c88e8ed. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever. By Kevin Cook. Aug. 2017. 304p. illus. Holt, $30 (9781250116567). 796.357646.
The year 1947 will always be remembered for being Jackie Robinson's rookie year with the Brooklyn Dodgers, but the subway World Series that season between the Dodgers and the Yankees was memorable in its own right, as Cook makes clear in this entertaining slice of baseball history. The focus is on six individuals who helped give the series--the first ever to be televised--its luster: managers Burt Shotton (Dodgers) and Bucky Harris (Yankees); pitcher Bill Bevens and the man who ruined his no-hitter and won the fourth game for the Dodgers, Cookie Lavagetto; Al Gionfriddo, whose spectacular catch off Joe DiMaggio is still replayed every year; and Yankees second-baseman Snuffy Stirnweiss, whose tragic death in a train wreck is recounted sensitively. Cook capably sums up the early and later lives of his subjects (none had distinguished careers), along with tracing the year's pennant races and the series games themselves, relying on family reminiscences and the quotations of others, most particularly announcer Red Barber, who penned the classic 1947: When All Hell Broke Loose in Baseball (1982).--Mark Levine
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
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Levine, Mark. "Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever." Booklist, vol. 113, no. 22, 1 Aug. 2017, p. 13. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A501718689/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=91ae7e92. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Cook, Kevin TEN INNINGS AT WRIGLEY Henry Holt (Adult Nonfiction) $30.00 5, 7 ISBN: 978-1-250-18203-6
A former senior editor for Sports Illustrated returns with a highly detailed account of a bizarre 1979 game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs: The final score, in 10 innings, was 23-22.
In this comprehensive narrative, nothing gets by Cook (Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame that Lasted Forever, 2017, etc.). After a bit of background and history--the two teams, baseball in general, Wrigley Field--the author takes us through 20 swift chapters, each devoted to a half-inning of this weird game at Wrigley on May 17, 1979. In each chapter, he focuses on a player or two--or a manager--and provides a brief biography and a discussion of how he ended up at Wrigley that day. Many of the names will be familiar even to casual baseball fans: Bill Buckner, Pete Rose, Mike Schmidt, Tim McCarver, Dave Kingman; others, not so much, except to fans of the teams or to devoted fans of the game--e.g., Jerry Martin, Bill Caudill, Ray Burris. Cook weaves their stories in and out of the narrative, thereby enriching his well-researched tale as he proceeds. Following the last out in the 10th, the author concludes with explorations of what happened to the teams and to some of the principals afterward. We learn more about Buckner's famous error in the 1986 World Series, Pete Rose's fall from grace (gambling), and catcher Bob Boone's remarkable family (his sons played in the major league as well). But the most disturbing story involves Cubs' reliever Donnie Moore: He was a talented pitcher but was a serial abuser of his wife; his abuse grew grotesquely grim when, in a rage in 1989, he shot her several times (she survived) before killing himself.
Fine, tasty fare for dedicated baseball fans.
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"Cook, Kevin: TEN INNINGS AT WRIGLEY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Mar. 2019. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A578090660/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=a202b41c. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
* Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink.
By Kevin Cook.
May 2019.272p. illus. Holt, $30 (9781250182036). 796.357.
It was Thursday afternoon, May 17, 1979. There were about 15,000 fans in attendance at a basically meaningless game between the Chicago Cubs and the Philadelphia Phillies. A ticket to sit in the Wrigley Field bleachers cost $1.50. After the first inning, the Phillies led 7-6, prompting Phillies shortstop Larry Bowa to say, "That was a great game. Now let's play the second inning!" The Phillies finally won in 10 innings, 23-22. Cook, a former senior editor at Sports Illustrated and author of six other books on sports, places the game in the context of baseball's past and its future. Cook follows a condensed history of each team with an inning-by-inning account of the game, fleshed out with player backgrounds and anecdotes. Of the many familiar names meriting coverage--Pete Rose and Mike Schmidt, among them--two stories stand out: that of Bill Buckner, the Cubs' first baseman that day, whose career came to be defined by a crucial error he made when playing for the Boston Red Sox in the 1986 World Series, and that of Donnie Moore, a young Cubs relief pitcher in 1979, who ended his troubled life in 1989 by killing himself after shooting his wife, who survived. Every year there is a new crop of baseball books of varying quality, with one or two of them rising above the pack. Ten Innings at Wrigley will be among the 2019 releases that will be read for years.--Wes Lukowsky
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2019 American Library Association
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Lukowsky, Wes. "Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink." Booklist, vol. 115, no. 15, 1 Apr. 2019, p. 10. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A581731184/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=4ce87dae. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster
Kevin Cook. Holt, $27.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-75555-1
Journalist Cook (Ten Innings at Wrigley) focuses this crisp account of the 1986 Challenger disaster on Christa McAuliffe, the first teacher selected to join a space mission. The Teacher in Space program, according to Cook, aimed to revive public interest in the space program and help President Reagan win teachers' votes in the 1984 election. McAuliffe, a high school social studies instructor in New Hampshire, was picked from more than 11,000 applicants. She participated in a series of high-profile media interviews and spent four months training for the flight with six other crew members, who are also profiled in detail. Tasked with conducting science lessons from space that PBS "would beam to classrooms all over the country," McAuliffe struggled to retain the necessary information (it wasn't her field) but kept at it, determined to prove she was more than a publicity stunt. Cook ramps up tension with well-selected vignettes of final preparations for the launch, and lucidly describes the cause of the explosion (a faulty seal in a rocket booster), the subsequent investigations, and the lawsuits filed by surviving family members. But the brisk pace comes at the expense of a deeper portrayal of McAuliffe and her NASA experiences. Still, this is an informative overview of a preventable tragedy that looms large in the history of the space program. IIlus. (June)
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"The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster." Publishers Weekly, vol. 268, no. 14, 5 Apr. 2021, pp. 56+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A658218011/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=9ed7aa87. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Cook, Kevin. The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster. Holt. Jun. 2021.288p. ISBN 9781250755551. $27.99. HIST
In 1986, the United States watched as the Challenger space shuttle exploded seconds into its flight, killing all seven crew members. Cook's book is a behind-the-scenes history of payload specialist and first teacher in space Christa McAuliffe, and the circumstances that led to the disaster. Unlike other books about the Challenger disaster that exclusively focus on the incident, this is a respectful biographical account of one of the non-astronauts on board. Using a plethora of primary and secondary sources, including personal interviews and shuttle operation manuals, Cook puts together the story of McAuliffe's life, why she wanted to go into space, and what happened after the incident. While Cook does offer details on the disaster and the commission to investigate it, the book's primary focus is the crew members and their families, which personalizes a pivotal moment in the history of NASA, space exploration, and the U.S. VERDICT A quick biographical account, placing the space shuttle in historical context, that will have YA crossover appeal. Readers will find something new even if they are familiar with the Challenger disaster.--Laura Hiatt, Fort Collins, CO
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Hiatt, Laura. "Cook, Kevin. The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster." Library Journal, vol. 146, no. 5, May 2021, p. 79. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A661829893/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=87c333ab. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Byline: Allison Stewart
The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster
By Kevin Cook
Henry Holt. 283 pp. $27.99.
- - -
In the months leading up to Jan. 28, 1986, the day the space shuttle Challenger crashed, killing everyone onboard, there were ominous portents.
As journalist Kevin Cook recounts in his solid, gripping new book, "The Burning Blue: The Untold Story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger Disaster," the bad signs piled up: A teenage gunman had entered the New Hampshire high school where McAuliffe taught social studies and was killed by police after taking hostages. When McAuliffe and other astronaut hopefuls took a trip to an amusement park, a young employee, trying to impress them, got tangled in the machinery of a ride and died.
The shuttle's launch was delayed multiple times because of issues with a bolt in the locking mechanism of the hatch, with a computer error message, with high winds. By the time the Challenger finally launched, it was in weather much colder than any shuttle had faced. It was so cold that crews knocked icicles off the launch tower with broomsticks, Cook writes, and the launchpad toilet froze.
According to Cook, a veteran reporter who assembled "The Burning Blue" from new interviews and existing sources, McAuliffe's parents had a bad feeling as they watched from the VIP bleachers. "I'd take her off that thing if I could get out there," McAuliffe's father told her mother. "Even if you could," she said, "she wouldn't come."
McAuliffe, 37, had won a nationwide contest to become the first teacher in space. Married to her high school sweetheart, with two young children, she was, as one magazine dubbed her, "America's most ordinary celebrity." She was a fierce advocate for teachers, a feminist and an outspoken Democrat, much to the unhappiness of President Ronald Reagan's administration, which asked her to tone it down.
She wasn't a scientist, but "NASA had science up the wazoo," writes Cook, and wanted someone who could publicly revive enthusiasm for the shuttle program, widely regarded as expensive and boring - nothing bad had ever happened to a shuttle. They hoped the plucky, dauntless McAuliffe would serve as a nostalgic link to the early days of the space program, when celebrity astronauts like Neil Armstrong and John Glenn were viewed as beloved pioneers. "They wanted a teacher who'd be good on the Johnny Carson show," one of McAuliffe's fellow contestants told Cook. "Someone who could help make the public love space again."
McAuliffe became one of the most famous women in the United States almost instantly, to the initial resentment of some in the Challenger's publicity-averse crew. She was a "walking, talking publicity stunt," they thought, whose coveted shuttle seat could have gone to an actual astronaut. McAuliffe's ostensible role on the shuttle was to teach science lessons from space. She would have little else to do.
By launch day, the crew, led by venerated Commander Dick Scobee, was tightly bonded. McAuliffe had grown especially close to Judy Resnik, a brilliant and glamorous pilot who had been the second American woman in space. The Challenger crew was unusually diverse: Physicist Ron McNair was the second Black man in space; mission specialist Ellison Onizuka was the first Asian American.
Compact and suspenseful even as it breaks little new ground, the bulk of "The Burning Blue" is devoted to McAuliffe and her grueling months of flight training, which included escape drills even though no escape was possible. Shuttles that flew before 1982 had ejector seats, Cook writes, mainly because NASA thought their presence might reassure the astronauts, but the Challenger did not. It also had no parachutes.
Cook offers a detailed, heart-rending and frequently terrifying accounting of what it must have felt like to be part of the Challenger crew that day: the traditional launch day cake they promised to eat when they got back, the hours of delay spent strapped uncomfortably in their seats, knees above their heads, the roiling violence of liftoff.
The Challenger broke up 73 seconds into its flight after the rubber O-rings that helped seal its rocket booster joints malfunctioned in the cold. This led to a hot gas leak, which led to an explosive fireball. Communications and power to the crew cabin were severed, though the cabin itself remained largely intact.
"In the first minutes after the explosion, when the world realized that Christa and the others were lost, they were still alive," Cook writes. The crew survived at least 30 seconds, and perhaps more than two minutes, after the initial explosion was witnessed live on television by millions of terrified schoolchildren.
It's unclear whether the crew understood what was happening. We know that pilot Michael J. Smith said "uh-oh" right before all communication was lost, possibly because he saw fire out his window, Cook writes. We know they followed their training; some of their personal air packs were activated, and emergency switches thrown. We know they didn't burn to death. They may have died from depressurization, or still been alive when their cabin crashed into the waters off the Florida coast. By the time their bodies were recovered in early March, NASA pathologists were unable to determine how they died. Or if they knew, they weren't saying.
"The Burning Blue" is careful in its examination of the political and emotional fallout from the crash. Like most events here, it's presented with little editorializing. The crash triggered a national outpouring of grief rivaled only by 9/11 and an epidemic of finger-pointing. A presidential commission under orders from Reagan not to embarrass NASA wound up roasting it instead.
It was alleged that the agency, humiliated by delays and squeezed by the White House, ignored safety concerns in its haste to launch. According to Cook, an engineer at contractor Morton Thiokol was so worried about the O-rings, he had sent a warning memo in 1985. "Its last line read: This is a red flag." Employees meeting the night before the launch argued unsuccessfully for the mission to be scrubbed but were pressured into changing their minds.
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, one of the commission's more skeptical members, added his own appendix to their report, asking for greater transparency from NASA and a more realistic assessment of space travel's risks. "In the end, he wrote, 'For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.' "
- - -
Allison Stewart writes about pop culture, music and politics for The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. She is working on a book about the history of the space program.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 The Washington Post
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Stewart, Allison. "Book World: 'The Burning Blue' is a compact, suspenseful chronicle of the Challenger disaster." Washington Post, 21 June 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A665935468/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=200712cc. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Cook, Kevin THE BURNING BLUE Henry Holt (NonFiction None) $27.99 6, 8 ISBN: 978-1-250-75555-1
A 1986 space shuttle disaster killed seven crew members. Why?
In 1984, when Ronald Reagan announced that he wanted to send a teacher into space, Christa McAuliffe, who taught high school social studies in Concord, New Hampshire, applied. From over 11,000 applicants, the upbeat, energetic 36-year-old mother of two was selected to join NASA’s 25th space mission, scheduled to launch in January 1986. That mission ended in tragedy when the Challenger exploded, killing everyone aboard. Journalist Cook draws on NASA’s archives, McAuliffe’s correspondence and family papers, newspaper and TV reports, and interviews with scientists, astronauts, and crew members’ families to create a fast-paced chronicle of the horrific event and its aftermath. McAuliffe’s job, writes the author, was to conduct a few science lessons to be broadcast on PBS, keep a journal, prepare lesson plans for teachers, and, above all, serve as an inspiration for students. Unlike fellow crew member Judith Resnik, who had been American’s second woman in space—after Sally Ride—when she flew in 1984, McAuliffe trained “to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom in space” but not to interact with any of the 1,300 switches and dials on the flight deck. Cook conveys McAuliffe’s optimistic spirit and occasional doubts as she embarked on her adventure, and he gives a brisk, tense recounting of the shuttle’s final moments, during which the crew was likely to have remained alive for nearly three minutes until the exploded orbiter crashed into the sea. Beginning in February 1986, a presidential commission—including the skeptical physicist Richard Feynman—investigated the crash, albeit with a mandate from Reagan not to “embarrass NASA.” Nevertheless, serious revelations emerged about what NASA knew about mechanical problems, how decisions were made, and why the launch proceeded despite unusually cold weather that compromised equipment. Considerable reforms followed, but not enough to prevent the crash of the Columbia, in 2003.
A vivid, thoroughly researched space history.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Cook, Kevin: THE BURNING BLUE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2021. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A661545767/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=badb534f. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias
Kevin Cook. Holt, $28.99 (288p) ISBN 978-1-250-84052-3
Journalist Cook (The Burning Blue) offers a fast-paced if sketchy account of the deadly 51-day showdown between the U.S. government and members of the Branch Davidian religious sect in 1993. Drawing from extensive interviews with surviving group members, Cook is at his strongest when discussing the day-to-day life of the Davidians under their unstable, self-appointed prophet, David Koresh. But the book's account of the standoff, which began in a shoot-out when ATF agents attempted to seize weapons stockpiled at the Davidians' compound in Waco, Tex., lacks some critical perspective: Cook cites survivor testimony to suggest that Koresh was sincere about ending the standoff in the next few days, despite having already broken his promises to the FBI once, and had no intention of manufacturing "a repeat of the mass dying at Jonestown" (in the words of an FBI spokesman), despite evidence that he and his followers intentionally fueled and set the fire that killed 76 sect members. Cook also relies on FBI negotiator Gary Noesner, who was abruptly replaced during the standoff, to support the claim that the agents who took over "deceived" attorney general Janet Reno into authorizing the raid on the compound. Though Cook does reveal inconsistencies and misrepresentations in government accounts, this rehash sacrifices nuance for drama. (Jan.)
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"Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias." Publishers Weekly, vol. 269, no. 41, 3 Oct. 2022, p. 166. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A721992764/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1979693b. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias. By Kevin Cook. Jan. 2023.288p. illus. Holt, $28.99 (9781250840523); e-book, $14.99 (9781250840530). 363.2.
Cult leaders are fascinating creatures, not only for their undeniable charisma but also for their powerful hold on their followers and their tendency to self-destruct. This is borne out here, an account of the life of David Koresh, his origins, and his rise and fall. Koresh was the leader of the Branch Davidians, an extremist religious group based in Waco, Texas, which, under Koresh's leadership, ultimately had a tragic confrontation with the FBI, leading to the deaths of Koresh and many of his followers. In Cook's account, readers learn that Koresh was a misfit child who suffered under an abusive stepfather. As a teen he found solace and acceptance in the Branch Davidians. When the groups early leadership imploded, Koresh ended up taking over the group, turning it into a classic cult. In chilling detail, Cook describes Koresh's descent into religious paranoia, putting him on the path that would lead to his confrontation with the FBI. Cook does a good job explaining how Koresh's sad saga unfolded, though the mystery of the why of Koresh remains elusive.--Gary Day
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2022 American Library Association
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Day, Gary. "Waco Rising: David Koresh, the FBI, and the Birth of America's Modern Militias." Booklist, vol. 119, no. 5-6, 1 Nov. 2022, p. 9. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A727772314/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8e46f96a. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Cook, Kevin WACO RISING Henry Holt (NonFiction None) $28.99 1, 31 ISBN: 9781250840523
A fresh, powerful account of one of the bloodiest events in the 1990s--and its relevance to current times.
In 1993, a 51-day standoff at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, ended in a devastating fire and dozens of deaths. In the aftermath, certain elements of the story were distorted and misrepresented, and this controversial attention caused the true humanity behind the narrative to get lost. In this engrossing resurrection, prolific journalist and author Cook digs deep to uncover the forgotten human side of these terrible events, and he offers a painstaking reconstruction of leader David Koresh's life and ascent to leader. At times, Koresh didn't appear to be the madman portrayed in the media, but the author makes it clear that he did not practice what he preached. "Koresh alone decided who could break the rules and when," writes Cook, and he maintained his power with psychological manipulation and mind control. The author is equally incisive about the Branch Davidians who followed Koresh and agreed to live frugally and communally. Together, they reinforced their leader's often apocalyptic teachings and separatist ways. As Cook notes, "they used a biblical term to describe the ATF, FBI, and National Guard forces surrounding them: Babylon." With government forces closing in and the media circus growing in intensity, further nefarious actions--including sex with underage girls and stockpiling of illegal firearms--led to the fight and ensuing massive fire that ended in "the deadliest day in FBI history." In describing the standoff with exquisite detail and care, Cook masterfully portrays the scope of the violence and heartbreak on all sides. The author's meticulous history and character portraits also serve as timely reminders of the danger of homegrown militias and the cultlike figures who often lead them. Unfortunately, this material is still fertile ground in America.
A thorough, engaging work that reminds us of the humanity behind tragedy.
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"Cook, Kevin: WACO RISING." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2022. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A729072526/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=1f37c01a. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played
Kevin Cook. Avid Reader, $30 (320p) ISBN 978-1-6680-4364-6
This meticulous if dry account from Cook (Waco Rising), the former editor-inchief of Golf magazine, details the 16 months in the early 2000s when Tiger Woods won golf's four major championships in succession. Cook recounts, sometimes stroke-by-stroke, Woods's performances, describing how he navigated windy conditions to win the U.S. Open, beat Bob May in a playoff round to nab the PGA, and maintained focus in the face of immense hype to come out on top at the Masters. Presenting Woods as a consummate perfectionist constantly looking for an edge over the competition, Cook notes that he asked the manufacturer of his custom putter to make it lighter than their standard model by the "weight of a sheet of printer paper." The match recaps are immersive ("Tiger's tee shot... flew past, missing the flag by inches, then hopped and checked back to ten feet. As he and May headed to the green, waving to acknowledge the crowd, a leather-lunged fan yelled, 'Tiger, Tiger!' "), but the well-known outcome leaves little room for suspense, and even the occasional hiccup (Tiger's caddie forgot to pack enough balls for the U.S. Open, putting Tiger at risk of incurring a two-stroke penalty if they ran out) doesn't add much excitement. The result is a lukewarm overview of one of golf's great hot streaks. Photos. Agent: David Halpern, David Halpern Literary. (Dec.)
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"The Tiger Slam: The Inside Story of the Greatest Golf Ever Played." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 41, 28 Oct. 2024, p. 66. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A815443660/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=eb2feacf. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Cook, Kevin THE TIGER SLAM Avid Reader Press (NonFiction None) $30.00 12, 10 ISBN: 9781668043646
Golf history up close and personal.
Cook's third book on golf is a captivating tale of what many thought impossible: winning the game's four majors in a row. In a breezy, assured style, Cook begins with a brief biography of Tiger Woods and his family and an insightful short history of golf balls, including Woods' switch to a new brand. His swing guru, Claude Harmon, thought "that his prize pupil might be about to take golf to a higher level." The rough at the Pebble Beach Golf Links would be very thick for the 100th U.S. Open, held in 2000. Word was, even par may win. Woods started with a 65. He finished his second with only one ball (he didn't know that) and a six-shot lead. After the windy third, it jumped to 10. Cook creates suspense even when readers know the outcome, a win, 15 strokes ahead of the next player. The British Open was at hallowed St. Andrews. After the first round, Ernie Els led by one over Woods, who took the lead after round two, then the third, by six shots. He beat his friend, David Duval, to win, using only one tee--the youngest to win all four majors. At Kentucky's lackluster Valhalla Golf Club, he would also be the PGA's defending champion. An opening 66 had him tied for the lead. A 67 resulted in a 36-hole scoring record. Woods battled the competitive journeyman Bob May in a playoff to win his third major in a row. The Masters and his fourth major were 10 months away. Amid the fans' roars he barely beat Phil Mickelson and Duval. Jack Nicklaus called it the "most amazing feat in the history of golf."
Chock-full of fascinating golf trivia, pithy profiles of players, and fairway dramas.
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"Cook, Kevin: THE TIGER SLAM." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Dec. 2024. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A817945926/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=8296103e. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.