Bill Walton

Role of a Lifetime is the story of the crucial role Larry Farmer played on teams that won three NCAA titles for UCLA under Coach John Wooden. Farmer’s record at UCLA was 89–1, the greatest winning percentage in NCAA history. (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was 88–2.) Role of a Lifetime also details how Farmer, a self-taught player from the playgrounds of Denver, managed to secure a full scholarship, make the varsity team as a sophomore, and ultimately become the head basketball coach at UCLA at the age of 30—the first black head coach for any sport at UCLA. The book chronicles the reactions of black leaders to his role as the first black head coach, as well as the inside politics that led him to resign after three years as coach, just days after accepting a two-year extension. Farmer also shares new insights about UCLA athletic booster Sam Gilbert and his role in the team’s NCAA probation. Farmer’s insider perspective during UCLA basketball’s most fabled period, combined with his natural ability to relate entertaining and informative anecdotes about legendary figures such as John Wooden, Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes, Reggie Miller, and many other famous players and coaches from throughout the world of college basketball, makes Role of a Lifetime a must-have for all Bruin fans and fans of basketball everywhere!

Join Janice and Jerry Nickels, the ten-year old twins who live on Riverside Drive, as they travel in time to faraway places, meet interesting strangers and see into the past and future. You may even get a peek into your own past and future . . .

Bingo!: Forty Years in the NBA is the memoir of legendary Los Angeles Clippers and sports broadcaster Ralph Lawler. Bingo! covers Lawler’s extraordinary life and career, from his childhood in Peoria, Illinois; through his time at Bradley University; to the beginning of his sports announcing career at the Riverside International Raceway; his years spent in Philadelphia with the Flyers, Phillies, and 76ers; his stint in San Diego with the Sails and the Chargers; and culminating in his 40-year career with the Clippers. Along the way, basketball and the NBA is the focus of the book, with Lawler’s observations and stories about players, coaches, and teams from the 1940s through his retirement at the close of the 2019 season forming the core of the narrative. Included among the myriad stories and reflections are his relationships with NBA legend Bill Walton, infamous Clippers owner Donald Sterling, Clippers GM and NBA great Elgin Baylor, and a variety of famous players, coaches, and fellow broadcasters from throughout the NBA. As Lawler used to memorably say from behind the microphone, “Fasten your seatbelts!” Bingo! is a fun-filled journey through professional basketball, with plenty of “Oh me, oh my!” moments, including the definitive answer to the burning question all NBA fans want to know: What are the origins of Lawler’s Law?

This is a chronicle of the Bay Street Boys and Girls Sporting Club, an association of close friends who enjoy planning and participating in the outdoor events of fishing and hunting. They also enjoy sharing their experiences over a glass of draft ale at the Disraeli Tavern, an old, well-established after-work haven in downtown Toronto. The original Club, formed in 2001, had six male members but expanded in 2005 to include four women who brought some expertise and a little composure to the Club events. Two of the women owned Bites and Bucks, a sporting goods store, a place of special financial interest to the Club members who worked on and near Bay Street, the financial hub of Canada. The Club disbanded in 2018 when most of the members retired and/or prepared to move away from the City. These stories are the true and unvarnished truth about fishing, hunting, and other worthy pursuits of the BSBGSC . . .

"An elegiac yet exuberant new memoir" (The New York Times Book Review)--Bill Walton's New York Times bestselling memoir about his recovery from debilitating physical injury and how lessons from John Wooden at UCLA (and the music of the Grateful Dead) inspired his darkest hours. In February 2008, Bill Walton suffered a spinal collapse so devastating he was unable to get up. It was the culmination of a lifetime of injury. Although Walton had played fourteen seasons in the NBA, he actually missed more games than he played during those years due to injury. From the time of his spinal collapse until his eventual recovery, he spent most of three years flat on the ground. The pain was excruciating, and he thought seriously about killing himself. But he survived, and Back from the Dead is the story of his injury and recovery, set in the context of his amazing athletic career. Walton grew up in southern California in the 1950s and was deeply influenced by the political and cultural upheavals of the 1960s. Although Walton identified strongly with the counterculture, especially in music, the greatest influence on him outside his family was Coach John Wooden, a thoughtful, precise mentor who seemed immune to the turmoil of the times. The two men would speak every day for forty-three years until Wooden's death at age ninety-nine. John Wooden once said that no greatness ever came without sacrifice. In this "frequently stirring memoir... Walton's love for life and the people and things in it--including his college coach, John Wooden--is infectious. You can't stop reading, or rooting for the man" (Publishers Weekly). Back from the Dead shares his dramatic story, including his basketball and broadcasting careers, his many setbacks and rebounds, and his ultimate triumph as the toughest of champions. " Walton] scores another basket--a deeply personal one." (Kirkus Reviews)

The recipe for a Failure to Communicate? Place the following ingredients in the Kalahari Park just before the rainy season: some British politicians; two Canadian snipers; two Russian snipers; a Buddhist monk; a reporter; and some ISIS and Boko Haram fighters. Add one old lion for seasoning. Stir.

Police detective Bob Jackson is working cold cases when he is assigned to a case that has puzzled police for more than twenty years. A man disappeared in what can only be described as an example of Spontaneous Human Combustion. Then it happened again - to his son. Bob finds himself in the unfamiliar world of holograms, lasers and avatars. There he uncovers a fifty-eight year old secret.