Book events

The past few weeks have been a blast, including three great book signing events (one in Portland, two in Jersey), as well as an interview on The Jamie Ross Show featured on MaplewoodOnline.com.  

Perhaps the best part was hearing from and meeting some of my father's contemporaries, all of whom continue to rave about Swede for his gentle nature and extraordinary strength.  I've been getting calls virtually every day from people who seem to love the trip down memory lane that the book provides, which is so gratifying.

One man shared in an email that when he was a 10 year old camper, his counsellor was 18 year old Swede.  "One at a time, he'd have us grab on to his gigantic shoulders and he'd take us for a swim, underwater...just like Tarzan!"

In the past couple of weeks I've seen and/or spoken to three of the all time great athletes that I discuss in the book: Al Attles, Monte Irvin, and Lonnie Wright.  They are so impressive(!), and I think they genuinely enjoyed the book.  (All three remind me of Swede in that they are so unassuming, and they are such friendly, positive guys).  Getting to know them has been one of the highlights of writing the book.

The picture above was taken at my Bar Mitzvah.  If you run into my younger brother Doug (bottom, left) please feel free to tease him about his get-up...which he still wears occasionally.

New Jersey Book Events - 9/13 and 9/14

On Sunday, Sept. 13th the Weequahic HS Alumni Association is hosting an event recognizing "SWEDE, Weequahic's Gentle Giant".  The Weequahic bond is remarkable, and Swede is considered the school's greatest all around athlete.

On Monday, September 14th, the South Orange Public Library is hosting an event for the book from 7:30 until 9:00 PM.  My father frequented the library most his adult life, and I'm sure he'd be proud to be remembered there.

New Jersey Jewish News Article

Attached is a story featured about Swede in the NJ Jewish News, Sept. 10th edition.  Enjoy reading.

"A Son Recalls a Weequahic Legend in New Book" - Article

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BLB (Brilliant Little Bobby)

Once, when I was a young lad I happened upon a brief conversation in which Swede was telling Estelle that one of his records had been broken.  This got my attention.

       Brilliant Little Bobby: "Daddy, weren't you mad?"

       Swede: "No, not at all, Bobby."

       Brilliant Little Bobby:  "Why not?!"

       Swede:  "I expected it.  I broke someone else's record, and I knew some day someone would break mine.  And some day someone will break his record."

       Brilliant Little Bobby (incredulously):  But why does everyone do that, and why doesn't anyone get mad?!"

Obviously, I thought my parents were talking about the plastic discs that played music, not some track and field record.  Are you beginning to conclude that it was quite clear, at an early age, that I was not destined to become a person of intellect? I'm just glad that I didn't walk over to our record player and break a few records to test my father's claims.

A 'Swede' worth knowing (Star-Ledger)

Attached is a recent article about my father in the sports section of the Star Ledger of Newark, New Jersey's largest newspaper.  The columnist, Sid Dorfman, is nationally known and highly respected. and knew my father as well as anyone. Enjoy. 

A 'Swede' worth knowing - Article (9/2/09)

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Big Al and Little Bobby

As you can see by the outfits my sister Dale and I are wearing in the photo, my parents had twisted, mean-spirited senses of humor.  But that can be a discussion for another day.  I posted this picture for one reason...to share with everyone the remarkable, uncanny resemblance between my image above and that of Albert Einstein.  The similarities are all-encompassing, and would take too long to list.   

Swede Atlas

When I was a kid I'd occasionally ask my father to flex his bicep...I wanted to see how big his arm muscle was.  He always answered the same way: "I don't have one, Bobby".  Brilliant Little Bobby suspected otherwise, but didn't press the big guy.  Who knew?  Maybe Swede did not, in fact, have a bicep muscle.

Then one day, when in his sixties, Swede caved to his grown up son's request to flex for the camera.  And just as I always suspected, he did, indeed have a muscle.  And a massive one, at that.  One of the things that amuses me about this picture is that it looks as though my father is barely flexing.  I guess he didn't want to tear his shirt.