Baezy is born in 2069, the centennial of the legendary Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Everything peace, love, and flower power is celebrated that year in a wave of nostalgia that takes over fashion, music, and the public’s imagination. She grows up listening to and loving the artists of that time, dreaming of witnessing everyone from Joan Baez to Santana in person. When presented with the opportunity to time-travel, Baezy immediately chooses Woodstock as her destination. She plans to enjoy a glorious weekend of vibrant sights and sounds; her bell bottoms and a peasant blouse are packed for the adventure and she’s excited to surprise her great-great-great-grandmother, Kelly Adams.
While Baezy’s certainly not a typical Woodstock attendee, Kelly isn’t either. She is at the very beginning of a stellar career researching artificial intelligence in the 1960s, and will later develop much of what will lead to the utopian society Baezy lives in. Kelly’s future family is immensely proud of her historic accomplishments.
The contrast between Baezy’s 2101 and 1969 is stunning from her first moment. Woodstock exceeds her wildest expectations, but holds far more than an introduction to her distant grandmother. Baezy quickly finds herself in life-altering situations she could never have anticipated.
ANYWHEN by Beth Duke is a mash-up of genres; time travel, historical fiction, romance, and sci-fi all centered around time traveler, Baezy, who assumes the name and identity of Sarah while in the past.
Baezy was born in 2069, which is the centennial of the legendary Woodstock Music Festival and is named after the singer Joan Baez. Baezy is excited that for her birthday in 2101, her mother has arranged a three day TIP (Time Insertion Protocol) for her to travel back to Woodstock in the year 1969 not only for the live performances she has studied and loves, but to also meet her three times over grandmother on her maternal side, Kelly Adams, who was a brilliant mathematician at MIT and an originator of AI.
While Baezy’s time insertion does not go exactly as planned, she is able to find the group of six that have gone to Woodstock together including Kelly. Baezy is very excited to meet Kelly, but their interactions lead to problems. Her naivety, beauty, and lack of complete understanding of 1969 slang and sayings leads her into conflict with Kelly’s group except for Jack, who is a teacher and sympathetic to Baezy’s differences. Baezy hopes to avoid the others and just enjoy the rest of the Woodstock performances with Jack, but every decision she makes could lead to future changes she could never anticipate.
I enjoyed the mixed genre plot throughout this story very much. The time travel, the futuristic Unity and the historic Woodstock, also with discussions of the Vietnam war were all well written. Unity may have no war or hunger, but it is still not a future I would hope for. The scenes of Woodstock are entertaining and nostalgic. I loved Baezy and her emotional awakening and evolution throughout the story, it was Kelly and the females in the travel group that I found immature for their ages and off-putting, so much so that I almost put the book down for good. I am glad I carried on though for the remainder of Baizy’s storyline.
This is a story that will capture many differing types of genre readers and satisfy them all.
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About the Author
Beth Duke is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author and the recipient of numerous honors for her fiction on two continents.
She is eyeing the other five.
Her book TAPESTRY was the Bronze Medal Winner in Southern Fiction in Publishers’ Weekly’s 2020 Readers’ Choice Awards, an Award-Winning Finalist in the 2020 International Book Awards, and a Five Star Readers’ Favorite Award Winner.
Beth lives in the mountains of her native Alabama with her husband, Jay, and an assortment of dogs—including a recently-rescued coonhound named Daisy who has stolen her heart. Beth is the adoring and proud mother of Jason and Savannah. She is a constant reader, travel aficionado, and likes to pretend she’s in baking competitions.
She also finds great joy in joining book clubs for discussion (usually via Zoom). If your group would like to schedule a date, please email beth@bethduke.com.
Her books DELANEY’S PEOPLE, DON’T SHOOT YOUR MULE, IT ALL COMES BACK TO YOU, TAPESTRY, and DARK ENOUGH TO SEE THE STARS are all love letters to her home state.
Anthony Fauci is arguably the most famous – and most revered – doctor in the world today. His role guiding America sanely and calmly through Covid (and through the torrents of Trump) earned him the trust of millions during one of the most terrifying periods in modern American history, but this was only the most recent of the global epidemics in which Dr. Fauci played a major role. His crucial role in researching HIV and bringing AIDS into sympathetic public view and his leadership in navigating the Ebola, SARS, West Nile, and anthrax crises, make him truly an American hero.
His memoir reaches back to his boyhood in Brooklyn, New York, and carries through decades of caring for critically ill patients, navigating the whirlpools of Washington politics, and behind-the-scenes advising and negotiating with seven presidents on key issues from global AIDS relief to infectious disease preparedness at home. ON CALL will be an inspiration for readers who admire and are grateful to him and for those who want to emulate him in public service. He is the embodiment of “speaking truth to power,” with dignity and results.
ON CALL: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service by Anthony Fauci, M.D. is the autobiography of the most interesting public health doctor/scientist who has served this country for many decades. Stories from his personal life and friendships, his dedication to medicine and public health, and his attempt to remain politically neutral while having his and his families’ lives threatened are all interwoven in a timeline that covers many of the epidemics that have plagued the world in the last sixty years.
I was especially interested in reading about his time working to protect the public from both HIV/AIDs and Covid, two terrible infectious diseases that affected many friends and made me fearful for family. His writing about his personal life is entertaining and I found the entire book fascinating, even though it is in certain places heavy with the science of statistical trials, microbiology and immunology which I did slightly slide through, but he is a man of science, and I am sure other students of public health, medicine and science will find it more important and enlightening than I did.
This is an autobiography of a truly dedicated, compassionate, and brilliant public servant that is worth reading. Thank you for your service, Dr. Fauci.
Viv’s career with the notorious mercenary company Rackam’s Ravens isn’t going as planned.
Wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she’s packed off against her will to recuperate in the sleepy beach town of Murk—so far from the action that she worries she’ll never be able to return to it.
What’s a thwarted soldier of fortune to do?
Spending her hours at a beleaguered bookshop in the company of its foul-mouthed proprietor is the last thing Viv would have predicted, but it may be both exactly what she needs and the seed of changes she couldn’t possibly imagine.
Still, adventure isn’t all that far away. A suspicious traveler in gray, a gnome with a chip on her shoulder, a summer fling, and an improbable number of skeletons prove Murk to be more eventful than Viv could have ever expected.
BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST (Legends & Lattes Book #0) by Travis Baldree is an enchanting and delightful cozy fantasy prequel to Legends & Lattes. This story is a wonderful blend of Viv’s journey of personal self-discovery, humor, and fantasy action/adventure plot. This is not my usual type of read, but I found I could not put it down.
Viv is a mercenary orc on her first big hunt with Rackham’s Ravens to take down a powerful necromancer. When she is wounded in battle, she is left behind to recuperate in the small seaside town of Murk. Having always focused on her battle skills, Viv is at a loss on how to fill her recovery time.
She discovers a run-down bookshop with a foul-mouthed book-loving owner who introduces her to a love of reading and a journey of discovery between the covers of each new book. Even as she makes new friends, a darkness threatens that could endanger everyone she is coming to care for.
I love this group of strong female characters. While they are orcs, gnomes, and other fantasy characters, at times while I was engrossed in the story, I would forget they were not human. This is primarily Viv’s story. She is a mercenary orc on her first big hunt, but when she is injured, she is left to recuperate in a small seaside town. She discovers the joy of reading, her first romantic relationship, and her first real friendships all while a threat of evil threatens. Mr. Baldree’s writing brings Viv and the entire cast of characters to life beautifully. The suspense elements of the story are perfectly paced and kept me turning the pages. This book is a perfect mix of self-discovery, friendship, humor, suspense and action/adventure. FYI: This story does have a female orc and female gnome romantic relationship which is why it is classified as an LGBTQ read.
I highly recommend this wonderful cozy fantasy and I am looking forward to reading more stories by this author.
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About the Author
Travis is a #1 New York Times Bestselling author, a Locus, Nebula, and Hugo finalist, and a full-time audiobook narrator who has lent his voice to hundreds of stories. Before that, he spent decades designing and building video games like Torchlight, Rebel Galaxy, and Fate. He lives in the Pacific Northwest with his very patient family and their small, nervous dog.
In March and April of 1944, Gestapo gunmen killed fifty POWs—a brutal act in defiance of international law and the Geneva Convention.
This is the true story of the men who hunted them down.
The mass breakout of seventy-six Allied airmen from the infamous Stalag Luft III became one of the greatest tales of World War II, immortalized in the film The Great Escape. But where Hollywood’s depiction fades to black, another incredible story begins . . .
Not long after the escape, fifty of the recaptured airmen were taken to desolate killing fields throughout Germany and shot on the direct orders of Hitler. When the nature of these killings came to light, Churchill’s government swore to pursue justice at any cost. A revolving team of military police, led by squadron leader Francis P. McKenna, was dispatched to Germany seventeen months after the killings to pick up a trail long gone cold.
Amid the chaos of postwar Germany, divided between American, British, French, and Russian occupiers, McKenna and his men brought twenty-one Gestapo killers to justice in a hunt that spanned three years and took them into the darkest realms of Nazi fanaticism.
In Human Game, Simon Read tells this harrowing story as never before. Beginning inside Stalag Luft III and the Nazi High Command, through the grueling three-year manhunt, and into the final close of the case more than two decades later, Read delivers a clear-eyed and meticulously researched account of this often-overlooked saga of hard-won justice.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Memorial Day honors and mourns those military personnel who died while serving their country. After watching the movie “The Great Escape” people might want to honor those in the allied armed forces who were captured by the Germans and brutally killed. Immortalized in the film is the mass breakout of seventy-six Allied airmen from the infamous Stalag Luft III. Not long after the escape, fifty of the recaptured airmen were taken to killing fields throughout Germany and shot on the direct orders of Hitler.
People might wonder what happened to these Nazi killers. In the book Human Game, Simon Read delivers a clear-eyed and meticulously researched account of this often-overlooked saga of hard-won justice. This “after story,” starting where the movie left off, explains in detail how the German Gestapo killers were brought to justice.
When the nature of these killings came to light, Churchill’s government swore to pursue justice at any cost. Francis P. McKenna led a three-year manhunt that brought twenty-one Gestapo killers to justice.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Which came first the movie, “The Great Escape,” or your idea to write the book?
Simon Read: The movie came first. I am from the UK originally. There, it is a tradition that they show “The Great Escape” movie every Christmas Day. My grandfather flew with the Royal Air Force during the Second War. From a very early age I used to sit with him and watch. It is still one of my favorite movies of all time. I was always traumatized by the ending where the escapees were gathered in a field and machine gunned down. I wondered what happened to the Nazi who gunned all the escapees down. This was the genesis for the idea of the book. It is also a great adventure story.
EC: How does this fit into Memorial Day?
SR: Memorial Day is a time to reflect and ponder the sacrifices made by those in uniform. The Great Escape was an exercise in allied ingenuity, bravery, and rebellion. It was a massive propaganda victory. I think they are very much heroes for what they did. Not every victory is on the battlefield. This is an example of cunning and bravery.
EC: Can you explain the quote by Nazi Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels in May 1944?
SR: You are referring to when he said, “We owe it to our people, which is defending itself with so much honesty and courage, that it is not allowed to become human game to be hunted down by the enemy.” This is where the title for the book came from. This in response to the allied bombing campaign. He thought it was perfectly legitimate to attack downed allied airmen and to take revenge. There is something cold and barbaric about this quote.
EC: This reminds me of the unfair criticism of Israel where Hamas can replace the Nazis and Israel replaces the allies.
SR: People can look at the British bombing campaign during WWII where they used targeted bombing of cities. People need to look at the context of the times. It might not be very appealing, but Britian was fighting for its very survival against its merciless enemy. They did what they needed to do to survive. In warfare both sides are dealing in morally grey areas, which is just how war is. My grandfather flew in RAF bomber command, 48 operations over Germany. It used to fire him up when he would hear people criticizing the British bombing campaigns against German cities. His attitude, ‘these people do not know what they are talking about,’ considering London was being bombed and devastated. The context cannot be ignored.
EC: There are pictures in the beginning of the book and an appendix in the back of the book. Why?
SR: These men could not just be numbers, because otherwise it does not hit home. This is why I put in the pictures. It is one thing reading a name on a page, but putting a face to the name really drives it home. Auschwitz has a twitter feed of those who perished in the gas chambers. It is more than a name and a number. People can see the emotions of the faces, the terror and fear. It really underscores the tragedy. The appendix tells when and how the fifty died.
EC: How realistic was the movie?
SR: Regarding Stalag Luft III it is true as depicted in the movie that the Germans tried to make it escape proof by trying to make tunneling impossible, had trap doors, set the barracks on concrete stilts, and had subterranean microphones buried deep underground. The top layer of soil was a different color than the soil underneath making it hard to hide the dug-up soil. Yet, the escapees found a way. The fake documents are also true. Where the movie deviates there were American characters, but the American and British POWS were actually separated. Also, true, the Germans took all the “problem airmen,” the ones who escaped from multiple camps and stuck them in one camp together. This all backfired on the Germans in spectacular fashion.
EC: Hitler ordered all the escapees to be found and executed?
SR: It was a huge embarrassment for the Germans. Hitler flew into an absolute rage when he found out. It was a very brutal response and violated every rule of warfare. The German Luftwaffe who ran the camp treated the inmates well because they were not Gestapo. There is a scene in the movie “The Great Escape” where the camp commandant told the British high-ranking official in the camp that fifty escapees were shot. This really reflects what happened in real-life, that they were upset.
EC: What about the execution?
SR: They were shot in the back, they were cremated, and their names were not supposed to be recorded. There was a list. The movie did not reflect what really happened because it had the escapees machine gunned down. In actuality, the escapees were murdered in groups of two and three by Gestapo assassination teams. They were put in a car, driven out to isolated spots, and told to stretch their legs. This is when the Gestapo would come up behind them and shoot them in the back of the head. Their bodies were taken to a local crematorium and destroyed. Stalag Luft III did get a list of those who were executed, and it was passed on to the British POWs.
EC: How would you describe Frank McKenna, the RAF officer in charge of investigating the fifty murders?
SR: He had detective skills and sought justice with a strong moral code. He was very determined and driven. He was outraged and disgusted by what had happened. Over the course of a few years, he did get results.
EC: Who would you say are the worst Gestapo murderers for this incident?
SR: Erich Zacharias wore a watch of a British airmen. He also raped and then shot a woman witness. He is a horrible human being who was a true believer in the Nazi cause and Hitler. Then there was Johannes Post, the chief executioner who took real pleasure in killing some of the escapees. He was a sadist. They were just vicious with no redeeming qualities. It is unfathomable how someone resorts to such barbaric acts.
EC: What do you want readers to get out of the book?
SR: There were those low-level guys, like Emil Schultz who justified killing in cold blood because they claimed their families was threatened. I pondered and wanted the readers to question, what would they have done in that situation. Schultz confessed to shooting Roger Bushell, the main architect. He had true regret. The RAF investigators did have sympathy but because he did a terrible thing was sent to the gallows. I did not approve or excuse of what Schultz did.
EC: Next book?
SR: It is titled Scotland Yard coming out in September. It is a history of the Yard told through many of its most famous cases and cases that helped advance criminal investigation like how finger printing developed, criminal profiling, and why police officers wear rubber gloves at crime scenes. It covers the Yard from its creation in 1829 to the Eve of WWII in 1939. I tried to write it as a thriller. There is a great mix of true crime and history.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for ADIEL AND THE FUHRER (Project 613 Series Book #4) by Elyse Hoffman on this Black Coffee Book Tour.
Below you will find a book summary, book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Summary
Adiel Goldstein has a good life. Despite the anti-Semitism he faces as a German Jew, he has everything he wants. A dream job as an art professor, good friends, a loving father, and a precious nine-year-old daughter, Kaia. But his life is about to be upended. An old comrade from his time fighting in the Great War is gaining power: a man named Hitler. Adiel’s father insists that they need to leave the country before Hitler becomes the leader of Germany.
Adiel and his family plan to move to America, but before they can even pack their bags, he and Kaia make a shocking discovery. Adiel’s father, Natan Goldstein, is from the future. A Holocaust survivor who lost his family to unspeakable tragedy, Natan was given the chance to go back in time and take the life of Adolf Hitler. But when he failed to kill the future Führer, he devoted himself to his new family and awaited the inevitable.
Natan can’t face the Holocaust again, but Adiel’s unique connection to Hitler means he might be able to succeed where his father failed. Adiel now has a choice: escape as planned and let history repeat itself, or sacrifice everything to stop the Holocaust before it can begin.
Award winning author Elyse Hoffman has crafted a thought-provoking and daring work of historical fiction which will tug at your heartstrings.
ADIEL AND THE FUHRER (Project 613 Book #4) by Elyse Hoffman is another fascinating addition to the Project 613 series of historical fiction books set during WWII. They are not only historical fiction though, because they also contain folklore, spiritualism, time travel, alternate history and a cast of memorable characters either caught up in the horrors of the war or seeking redemption for their part in it. While you do not need to read all the previous books, some characters are carried over from the third book in the series, The Black Fox.
Adiel Goldstein has been raised in a loving Jewish home in Germany, but with the rise of the Nazi Party, his father has been helping friends and family to immigrate to the United States. When Adiel’s daughter, Kaia stumbles across an old chest, he learns his father and mother are from the future and they have been keeping a secret that could change the course of the Holocaust.
This alternate history story has so many twists and turns in an intricate plot of “what if”. It begins with the main characters planning their immigration from Germany as the Nazis make life unbearable for its Jewish citizens. Then the story takes a huge turn when the chest is discovered with things from the future, but it is not a surprise to Natan, Adiel’s father. This is when every decision from this point on is calculated to change the future that Natan and his wife came back to the past to change; to kill Hitler.
This book took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride. The life changing choices that are made in all the main characters lives and the death of a character I came to love had me pulling out the tissues. I was very impressed with how Ms. Hoffman was able to intertwine real historical facts with the alternative history and make it all appear seamless. This story had me captivated from beginning to end, but I also cannot share too much without giving spoilers, which I will not do.
I highly recommend this thought-provoking alternate history/historical fiction addition to the Project 613 series. The entire series is at times hard to read but also fascinating in its worldbuilding!
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About the Author
Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: the five books of The Barracks of the Holocaust and The Book of Uriel.
Few basketball dynasties have reigned supreme like the UCLA Bruins did over college basketball from 1965–1975 (seven consecutive titles, three perfect records, an eighty-eight-game winning streak that remains unmatched). At the center of this legendary franchise were the now-iconic players Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Bill Walton, naturally reserved personalities who became outspoken giants when it came to race and the Vietnam War. These generational talents were led byJohn Wooden, a conservative counterweight to his star players whose leadership skills would transcend the game after his retirement. But before the three of them became history, they would have to make it—together.
Los Angeles native and longtime sportswriter for the Los Angeles Times, Scott Howard Cooper draws on more than a hundred interviews and extensive access to many of the principal figures, including Wooden’s family to deliver a rich narrative that reveals the turmoil at the heart of this storied college basketball program. Making the eye-opening connections between UCLA and the Nixon administration, Ronald Reagan, Muhammad Ali, and others, Kingdom on Fire puts the UCLA basketball team’s political involvement and influence in full relief for the first time. The story of UCLA basketball is an incredible slice of American history that reveals what it truly takes to achieve and sustain greatness while standing up for what you believe in.
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Elise’s Thoughts
Kingdom on Fire by Scott Howard-Cooper is a wonderful book to read during March Madness. College basketball has changed over the years, but not for the better with the days of selfish players, and defense being a strategy of the past. This is why this book is so relevant today because it shows how the game used to be played and what is missing in basketball today.
The unlikely trio of John Wooden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly known as Lew Alcindor), and Bill Walton created one of the greatest dynasties in sports history. From 1964 to 1975 the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) basketball team won 10 national championships, including seven in a row, and amassed four perfect seasons. This seems like today an unheard feat considering college basketball teams are hampered by the “NIL”, the portal transfer and “one-and-done.” The three together had a winning attitude set against the turmoil in America of the 1960s and 1970s.
This is a must read that captures the basketball history of that era and the cultural unrest regarding civil rights and the Vietnam War. The author fascinatingly weaves together sports, politics, and history within the contexts of UCLA basketball.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: Why the title?
Scott Howard-Cooper: The title came about because I was struck that the UCLA Bruins obviously had this empire, this kingdom, and this program at the peak for so many years. I also wanted to put it with the backdrop of the times in America of the sixties and seventies. There was so many things going around the Bruin basketball players. The meat of the book is the arrival of Lew Alcindor before he became Kareem Abdul- Jabbar, through the departure of Bill Walton.
EC: Why write it now?
SHC: I wanted to write it now because this season that just finished is the fiftieth anniversary of the end of the seven consecutive championships. One year from now will be the fiftieth anniversary of Coach John Wooden’s last year.
EC: Do you think Coach Wooden was the best basketball coach ever?
SHC: I do, but I also think he would not think so. He was not a great coach in basketball strategy and was the first to say he was not a good x’s and o’s coach. He was not the guy who would ‘rule the chess board’, never would outsmart someone. Looking at the preparation and the system he had in place, the way he was able to mesh talents and personalities for so long, year after year, is remarkable. The times need to be factored in. He kept everyone focused. He also had the greatest coaching staff of all time. His assistants were invaluable in the strategy and the recruiting.
EC: Isn’t one of the things that made him great is his ability to know his weaknesses and hire assistant coaches to supplement that?
SHC: This is one of the reasons he was so great. He did not want yes men. He wanted people to disagree with him. He wanted smart people around him. Assistant Coach Jerry Norman played a role in the early strategy sessions. Another assistant coach, Gary Cunningham, was Lew Alcindor’s first coach of the freshman team. Other great assistant coaches were Denny Crum and Frank Arnold. He wanted to know what his assistant coaches were thinking. I do not think it was just a coincidence that Cunningham, Norman, and Crum played for Wooden.
EC: Do you think he had the players leave their politics at the door?
SHC: Yes and no. The politics and the issues going on in society were always with the players. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton could have brought the whole dynasty down if they were about ego, worried about how many points they were getting, or wanting to bring the protests to the courts, which they could have done. I do think John Wooden was worried when Lew Alcindor came out from New York, that he would want to dominate the ball and the headlines. As it turned out, Alcindor and Bill Walton were the definition of selfless and team first. They had no egos. They did not care about the spotlight and in fact hated it. They would talk about their teammates. They cared about the win and playing right. Once they stepped on the court, they were selfless.
EC: Were there any players who tried to fuse their causes with basketball?
SHC: Yes. A player, Andy Hill came to Wooden during the National Moratorium Protest in 1969 and asked him to cancel practice to show people how UCLA basketball is standing up for a cause. This did not go over well. Wooden did not cancel. He looked at Hill and said ‘Andy you do not have to be at practice today. You do not have to be at practice ANY DAY.’ There were moments after the games where players protested. They did not silence the beliefs but knew how to keep them in check. They knew when and where. Bill Walton believed in Bruin basketball. While Walton and Alcindor had their stands on civil rights and the Vietnam War, they also had their stands on the greatness of UCLA basketball.
EC: Were there any examples of discontent?
SHC: Jim Wooden, John’s son, a proud Marine, told me how angry he was at Walton for protesting. He wanted to confront Walton. This was not a cocoon, but everyone knew where to draw the line and not cross it.
EC: How would Wooden have reacted to the way the NIL (Name-Image-Likeness) is structured?
SHC: He would have reacted from afar. John Wooden would not be coaching in today’s world. He hated to recruit but did recruit Lew Alcindor. Weekends were family time for him and his assistants. Now players are recruited but must be re-recruited to make sure they do not transfer. He would not have had anything to do with this version of the game: the recruiting, the money involved, and the emphasis on individual stardom. He would have either have gone into retirement or he would have become a high school English teacher somewhere. He was old school even then. He would never compromise the basketball side. He wanted the ball to be moving. The people who wanted to play fancy and who needed to take the shot were the antithesis of what John Wooden wanted.
EC: Would Wooden have like the style of UCLA’s current coach where he yells at his players?
SHC: He would not have approached him. But if someone around the current coach initiated the conversation he would have commented. One of the interesting parts of the book shows how people need to suspend what they know about Wooden in the 21st century. He was a yeller. He would ride his players in practice. He was on officials during games. He would even rag on opposing players. He was fierce and driven as a coach. He would do whatever was in the rules to win the game. The John Wooden, America’s grandfather, was not Coach John Wooden of the sixties and seventies.
EC: Who would you consider the best UCLA player ever under Wooden?
SHC: Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton are impossible to decide. Most people feel that Kareem Abdul- Jabbar is the best player in college basketball history. Through my research I found out that is just not the case. Bill Walton has a very strong case. He does not like to be put on the same plateau. Other coaches and John Wooden and opponents said that it would be easier to play Alcindor than Walton. There is not a clear-cut number one the way most people believe.
EC: Are you writing another book?
SHC: I am scratching out a few ideas and would like to write another book.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
