Spanning the years

In yesterday's session of Literary Lunches, Grand Forks Central technology education teacher Joe Ford addressed discrimination. He began his reading by drawing students attention to a Converse National 1964 yearbook of state champions, a document that shows the teams of white students and black students were separated; in other words, they didn't play one another.

Then Ford read a section from basketball player Bill Russell's memoir Red and Me about how Russell and his African American teammates responded to a segregation at a restaurant. The "Red" in the memoir is Red Auerbach.

In Red Auerbach, Russell found his partner, and over 13 years they won 11 N.B.A. championships. During that time, from incidents on court and off, Russell slowly came to trust Auerbach the man as much as Auerbach the coach or general manager. “Red and Me,” which he wrote with Alan Steinberg, is the story of their relationship. (from Bill Bradley at NYT)

Ford also read from with a selection from Red Auerbach's book Let Me Tell You A Story: A Lifetime in the Game.  John Feinstein is co-author of the book. 

Ford concluded with a selection from Abe Winter's Memoir of an Unknown Sports Writer. The selection featured Grand Forks Central graduate Glen Hansen, part of GFC's 1970s state basketball champion team.