Mark Jacob

*Booklist starred review* The captivating biography of Abe Saperstein, creator of the Harlem Globetrotters The original Harlem Globetrotters weren’t from Harlem, and they didn’t start out as globetrotters. The talented all-Black team, started by Jewish immigrant Abe Saperstein, was from Chicago’s South Side and initially toured the Midwest in Saperstein’s model-T. But with Saperstein’s savvy and the players’ skills, the Globetrotters became a worldwide sensation. Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook Up the World of Sports is the fascinating biography of Saperstein, a five-foot-three promoter who made an amazing impact in a sport where height is at a premium: basketball. After Saperstein founded the team in the 1920s, the players battled everything from blizzards to bigotry, steadily building a reputation for talent and comedy until their footprint covered the entire world. Abe Saperstein’s impact went well beyond the Harlem Globetrotters. He helped keep baseball’s Negro Leagues alive, was a force in getting pitching great Satchel Paige his shot at the majors, befriended Olympic star Jesse Owens when he fell on hard times, and pioneered the three-point shot. Globetrotter reveals the tireless work and impressive achievements of a man and a basketball team that made millions of people laugh, gasp, and applaud at their astounding performances.

The captivating biography of Abe Saperstein, creator of the Harlem GlobetrottersThe original Harlem Globetrotters weren’t from Harlem, and they didn’t start out as globetrotters. The talented all-Black team, started by Jewish immigrant Abe Saperstein, was from Chicago’s South Side and toured the region in Saperstein’s model-T. But with Saperstein’s savvy and the players’ skills, the Globetrotters would become a worldwide sensation. Globetrotter: How Abe Saperstein Shook Up the World of Sports is the fascinating biography of Saperstein, a five-foot-three promoter who made an amazing impact in a sport where height is at a premium: basketball. When Saperstein first founded the team in the 1920s, they battled everything from blizzards to bigotry as they traveled around the Midwest. But the team steadily built a reputation for talent and comedy, increasing its footprint until it covered the entire world. Abe Saperstein’s impact went well beyond the Harlem Globetrotters. He helped keep baseball’s Negro Leagues alive, was a force in getting pitching great Satchel Paige his shot at the majors, and befriended Olympic star Jesse Owens when he fell on hard times. And at a time when professional basketball was still struggling to attract fans, Saperstein and his Globetrotters helped the sport grow a devoted audience. Globetrotter reveals the tireless work and impressive achievements of a man and basketball team that made millions of people laugh, gasp, and applaud at their astounding performances and incredible talent.

“Guaranteed to make you the smartest person in the room! One problem: you can’t stop reading this clever, amazing assortment of upscale trivia.” —Bill Kurtis, cohost of Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me! For years, the Chicago Tribune’s popular weekly column 10 Things You Might Not Know has been entertaining readers while informing them on a diverse range of fascinating subjects. 10 Things You Might Not Know About Nearly Everything is a carefully curated collection of these columns, presented in a fun, easy-to-read format. This book provides well-researched, obscure facts on a variety of topics such as arts, culture, money, food, politics, war, science, technology, language, and more.10 Things You Might Not Know About Nearly Everything contains a plethora of surprising trivia and pertinent tidbits that will appeal to everyone, from history buffs to sports fans to foodies. From amusing, lighthearted topics, such as misspellings and extreme eating, to more serious subjects, such as World War II and prison, this collection of carefully researched and universally appealing trivia will make readers laugh and their jaws drop. This book leaves readers brighter, wittier, and more curious about a myriad of subjects they may have never encountered before.

Treacherous Beauty is the first popular biography of an eighteenth-century society girl named Peggy Shippen-close friend of a British spymaster and wife of Benedict Arnold-and how she was instrumental to the treasonous plot to sabotage the American Revolution.

A stunning array of more than 250 duotone images, representing the work of the photographers of the Chicago Daily News, offers photographs from the early years, from 1901 to 1930, that capture defining moments in the history of a great American city during a time of great change, from the Eastland steamer disaster to the bloody aftermath of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.