Jordan Lynch Back at NIU in Dekalb

Lawrence Norris is the publisher of The Sports and Faith Series books, the latest one being Pilgrimage by Patrick McCaskey. Norris is also the author of The Brown and White, a fictionalized memoir told with great humor and warmth of his days in high school.

JORDAN LYNCH

Jordan Lynch

If you are checking the stats and game notes for the Edmonton Eskimos in Canada this year to see how former quarterback of Northern Illinois University Jordan Lynch is faring, well, he is back at NIU this season coaching running backs. Lynch is a fellow alum of Mount Carmel High School, a South Sider, and one of the biggest stars in Chicago sports this past decade. Lynch has a lot of fans, too. 

Canadian teams have a swarm of quarterbacks because they play on a much bigger field in a more wide open game. Often, the QBs in Canada have kind of an old school toughness and a personality to go along with it. The Canadians do not pay anything like the NFL here, so it's not like you can go up to Canada, play a few years and sit back and live comfortably. I remember from books my old company had from our Canadian affiliate, the population is roughly 10% of the US. Most players also have their eye on the next step in their career and just how they are going to look after their families full time. 

So for reasons known to Lynch, he decided to hang it up in Canada and head back to the sideline in DeKalb where he works for his old coach, Rod Carey. I had an opportunity to meet Coach Carey a few years ago and I was impressed. Carey is a supurb coach and a very smart guy. His program is excellent and I'd have to believe his staff is a great place to start a coaching career. Carey’s NIU teams are 31-12 in his three years as head coach of the program, and have won three Mid-American Conference West titles and the 2014 MAC Championship.

In coaching, at the professional and college level, there is often  a lot of movement that goes on.  There is also a progression of steps that are often involved, but things happen in unusual ways as well. It's not always clear, but you move up in responsibility as you go along. Sometimes you stay with a head coach as they move from school to school. People have different goals and not everyone wants to be a head coach. Some in fact go back to high school, and some even go on to the pros.  

I remember researching the life of Bill Belichick and his dad Steve was a good coach. But Steve wanted more stability than what would be offered  by just coaching, so he focused on scouting and teaching at the Naval Academy. Bill Belichick himself took another path and started working in the pros where he did things like drive the other coaches around and pick up lunches--he moved up from there. So there are traditional roles and some other roads you can take, but it depends on your goals and circumstances--and then like any job there is a matter of  things like luck, fate, destiny. 

I wish Jordan Lynch great success in his next step. Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Pray for Us. 

Lawrence Norris is the author The Brown and White, a fictionalized memoir about his time in High School. 

Chicago Irish Writer and His Catholic League Book about St. Rita

Tim Maher is well known in Irish Sports circles in Chicago. I have spoken to Tim Maher the past 6 months or so as he was preparing his 3 Yards and a Cloud of Dust for publication.  The book is out now and available at Chicago Catholic League Football. Tim was certainly a big part of the St. Rita Championship Season that his book covers. But he is one of those guys who has been a big part of sports in Chicago at its most visceral level.  He sweats, bleeds, and breathes Chicago sports. 

Tim's reach goes way beyond St. Rita and even football. One of his other life-time avocations has been Chicago softball and he is a member of the Softball (16") Hall of Fame. He has been involved with media coverage of Chicago sports for many decades. 

But there are many things about 3 Yards and a Cloud of Dust that are attractive to many people--I hesitate to even suggest the people who will read it because it's a little like one of those items on the Antique Road Show that appeals to collectors from different genres. Tim's book is definitely a football story, a Catholic League story, a Chicago story and more. And the book is very visual--tons of photos, lists, and even a poem here or there.  

One of the elements to the book that I know Tim felt very strongly about was the reproduction of coaching notes for each of the games described in the book for St. Rita's run at the 1970-1971 Catholic League and Prep Bowl Championship. The notes are included as they were written so readers are taken back to the time in every way possible. 

After writing my own book about high school called The Brown and White, I was reminded of the allegiance that athletes certainly have to their schools. I think this is likely the case of the players just having so much deeper roots with their schools than most kids based on the sacrifices and frankly the punishment that they put in while there.  The after hours, endless practices, and training create a bond that might be described as Marine-like. And in most cases, there was a payoff in that the athletes were often the kids most respected and appreciated at the schools.  At least in my era, no one was paying much attention to the Science or French Club (I was in Fr. Pryor's Science Club).  At Mount Carmel (my school), most everyone wanted to be on one of the teams.  I think we had at least half the school try out for the football team and I suspect the same might be true for Tim's St. Rita, and other schools such at Mendel, Brother Rice, etc. 

Of course, the teachers and administrators at the schools take academics very seriously and want their students to succeed in life and become good men. Tim alludes to that in the book as well, but he comes at it from an athletes perspective. This is a football book, after all.

And that allegiance, that love of school and the significant impact that it has, well, it is a big part of Tim's story.  It is not so much a point made in the lines of text, it is often between the lines. 

Tim is a product of Visitation parish in Chicago. I don't think there was ever a parish that produced football players like Visitation--a school that produced athletes who would star in the preps and then go on to many of the best colleges. 

I've learned at times not to project how people will read and how much they will appreciate what someone writes. I have been involved in publishing my entire adult life and there are always surprises.  At the same time, a story like Tim's could only be created by Tim--it is not an exact narrative or something that was written to intellectually reach interested parties.  It is more like a battle plan and diary that gives athletes, their families, and others a return ticket to the time, the place, and the deeds. I suspect, some people may spend a half an hour with the book and others will pick it up again and again. 

If you have your own Chicago "crew" from a Chicago Catholic school, Tim has prices that will allow you to buy a number of books to check off en masse for your Christmas list. For everyone else it's certainly affordable for a single copy purchase. 

Athletes often suggest that they stand "shoulder to shoulder" with each other at difficult times.  Tim's book reminds us that commitment of that kind can come early in life and live on. 

Boys Can't Man Up into Adulthood, They Have to Learn Emotional Skills

Boys sometimes have their male influences wanting them to "man-up" to adulthood and their female influences wanting them to stay sweet and innocent. They can often end up facing life without really being prepared for it and getting very angry.  Experts suggest that boys need to become emotionally literate.  And maybe that is a much greater challenge than parents' anticipate.  But if boys don't become emotionally literate, "little things" can set off big negative reactions. When it gets out of hand, well, it gets out of hand. 

Those who have emotional literacy can understand their emotions, listen to others and put themselves in another's shoes to understand what they might be feeling. Emotionally literate boys learn to express themselves and to handle their emotions in acceptable ways. Emotionally literate boys  have healthy relationships,  show love, and cooperate with others. But it can take some time for them to acquire emotional literacy.

In the book, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys, the authors talk about the challenges of raising boys.  There are videos and much to read on the book and the authors.  I just want to express one thought here in this post, rather than give you the run-down on the book because the authors do that better than I can ever do myself. 

Mom's have to get a grip and learn to lighten up at times.

In the book, one mom is described as giving lots of support, love and affection to a son.  But as the boy gets older, he wants to pull away a little from Mom--to gain some autonomy. Mom becomes concerned at this reaction and she reacts by attempting to force herself on the child--knocking on his bedroom door, calling for his attention, and insists that everything remains the same.  The authors point out that  boys need to move on a little from the Mom and this is normal. A Mom should not feel a sense of failure when boys do this.  Stay in there, provide support, but recognize that battles relating to this struggle can occur as a boy ages. A Mom is not going to get her way every step along the journey. It helps to understand that the boy is just attempting to grow up a little and as a boy ages, he continues to test. The Mom needs to remain confident.  The Mom needs to help her son develop confidently as well. 

In my book, The Brown and White, I talk about Collin Callaghan going off to high school each day and the Mom trying to deal with a new smaller place in his life.  The Mom in the book comes to surprise Collin with a knitted brown beret and scarf that came close to upsetting Collin. But in this case, rather than get angry and upsetting his mother, he decided to go with it and accept his fate on the bus with his friends and his new wardrobe. At it turns out, the friends don't care and it all turns out just fine except for one problem.  The scarf stretches longer each day and Collin ends up wrapping it around his body more each day.  Eventually, it looks more like a rope than a scarf. 

Parents teach a boy about caring about others feelings and this can come back to serve the parents and son.  A boy is also taught to look out for his mom by the example of the Dad and others in the family. 

Don't Wait Till the Snow Flies to Buy the Brown and White

Illustration by Bill Potter, Copyright 2017, Sporting Chance Press

Bill Potter's Abdominal Snowman comes to mind as we are making our way through August and towards the fall. It won't be too long before you'll head those Christmas songs and you start to feel rushed. Take some worry off you mind and order a couple dozen copies of The Brown and White for everyone on you list! Send your request directly to me (lmj.norris@gmail.com) and I'll sign them and ship them myself along with an invoice. 

 The Brown and White will be selling well when we get closer to the time when people show an interest in the Abdominal Snowman and holiday purchases. And yet, this time of year does seem right for The Brown and White in another way.

Forty plus years in the making, The Brown and White is a fictionalized memoir that tells the story of Collin Callaghan's freshman year at a Chicago Catholic High School. And the book begins about this time of year as Collin is heading off to school. So this may be a good time to sell The Brown and White, even though August is not a great time for selling books--as least I have not found it so.

Lawrence Norris, The Brown and White

Collin is a white boy who is living in turbulent times in a changing city. He clings to his neighborhood and his family as he heads out each day with his classmates on the Brown and White, the ancient school bus driven by free-spirited Willie. Memorable characters abound as this story unfolds. Collin's loveable family, especially his Irish Catholic policeman father and his Irish immigrant mother face life together. Collin and classmates blaze their own humorous and passionate trail through the late 1960s. A unique cast of terrific teachers are there to see the boys through. Laughs and life meet readers head on as they travel on the Brown and White.

I remember laughing very hard at times in high school. In some way, most everything was funny. And that's one thing I hope people get out of The Brown and White. Whether it brings back memories of their own high school days that stirs a smile or they just find some of the situations funny, I think readers will like The Brown and White. 

My Poem: Mice and Ghosts by Lawrence Norris

Mice come into the house from cold fall air
and haunt my kitchen until I set traps for them.
My neighbor tells me they must make a home
out in the old pile of logs where the rabbits go.


But there's something spiritual in my wood pile
it holds relics of my old apple tree
and I can't bring myself to get rid of the logs
summer home of mice and hiding place for rabbits.

But like all dead things I hold onto,  it brings trouble,
memories of mistakes I have made that sneak up
and cry out on these cloudy winter days
scolding me for what I failed to do in summer.

So on these cold mornings when nothing is warm
and even the squirrels won't come out of their nests,
I sometimes battle ghosts stuck in my head
like mice that come in from the cold, haunting my kitchen.

Copyright 2017, Sporting Chance Press

Norris is the author of The Brown and White, a fictionalized memoir published by Sporting Chance Press about a young man's freshman year at the late 1960s in Chicago. It's about changing neighborhoods and challenges, but humorous and positive as well.

The Brown and White: The Timing and the Audience

You probably know that when you have a product to sell you have just seconds of time--whether it's on social media or some other media. People talk about an elevator speech and they often say, even when  you have to sell yourself (like for a job), you only have  a few seconds.  I suppose it's even worse than that when you have to send information online and someone has developed an app that can score whatever it is you have submitted and kill of the statistically unwanted. 

When you write a book these days, it's also important to have some clearly defined descriptive lines that you can use to get people's interest. Yet, books are by their nature usually a little more complicated than that. I find it amazing when you are interested in one book or a movie--and then  you get bombarded by messages about "like kind" products. 

But you know there is a lot of money that gets passed around for products that are cross-sold, so sometimes the programs that exist to connect the dots are not accurate. Most people have giggled a little at times on a list of movies that a provider suggests you may be interested in because you watched something else. I may be wrong, but I have a tendency to interpret the message as "you'll like this because you read that and someone paid us to suggest the connection. 

On my book called The Brown and White, writing an accurate description is easy enough:

Forty plus years in the making, The Brown and White is a fictionalized memoir that tells the story of Collin Callaghan's freshman year at a Chicago Catholic High School. Collin is a white boy who is living in turbulent times in a changing city. He clings to his neighborhood and his family as he heads out each day with his classmates on the Brown and White, the ancient school bus driven by free-spirited Willie. Memorable characters abound as this story unfolds. Collin's loveable family, especially his Irish Catholic policeman father and his Irish immigrant mother face life together. Collin and classmates blaze their own humorous and passionate trail through the late 1960s. A unique cast of terrific teachers are there to see the boys through. Laughs and life meet readers head on as they travel on the Brown and White.

I think this done a decent job, but at the same time it difficult with this book. The setting is a changing city, but the book is not focused on civil rights or the conflicts of the day. It's there in the background, but the book is primarily simple and humorous. I was not writing the story of the black experience of the time--I read many books on that in high school and college, but I had to make that clear to readers.  I am not a second coming of James Baldwin.  I've said that in interviews. 

Even my simple book is not so simple to describe. 

Also, my book is about a high school boy, but women are more important for the story than someone might surmise.  In interviews, I like to mention that fact. I think the chapter on my mom is one of the best. 

Another thing that I find interesting (and frustrating) today is that often people tend to place a book into a very specific sub-genre.  Many readers tend to want books that are very specific towards their lives and interest. I am not sure if that's a good thing. 

I was inspired by John Powers who lived a few miles from house and wrote Last Catholic in America and Do Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up. These books are in fact about a grade school (Last Catholic) and a high school boy (Patent Leather), his friends and family. The last thing anyone would have said about them at the time is that grade school kids should like to read Last Catholic and high school kids should like to read Patent Leather. I started writing The Brown and White over 40 years ago when many people were devouring John Powers books. In my family, all of us were fans. But today, people want to pound books into a very specific category. Once some people understand the story, they want to limit the book's audience and appeal. My book is about high school, but it really isn't written for high school kids. 

Here's the Amazon write up on Patent Leather Shoes:

Growing up on Chicago’s South Side in the 1960s, Eddie Ryan is learning a lot—and not just from the Brothers at his all-boys Catholic high school. Eddie’s world is populated by peculiar adults, oddball classmates, and puzzling girls—the greatest mystery of all. He takes it all in through the prism of his Catholic upbringing, which often deepens the mystery, but sometimes clarifies it, too. Entering Eddie Ryan’s world will delight not only readers who grew up there with him, but also those too young to remember.

I don't think adults were turned off by the description then, but I have to wonder about now and how people might have Pidgeon holed it.

The Brown and White is an Easy Read

I wanted The Brown and White to be accessible to many people so they could be "taken back" in time to 1967-1968, a time that was scary in some ways and comforting in others.  I was a boy going to a tough school in a dangerous neighborhood. You might think that the book is all about boys for boys, but that's not the case.  It's a story about a boy, his family, his friends, his faith, his teachers, and  his school. 

I have some nice reviews on Amazon, but I am not the best promoter. Many people have told me that they like my book, but have not run off to Amazon to give me a great review (some have and I am eternally grateful for these people). 

My book is $12.50 on Amazon.  I hope you will give it a go...