On June 5 at 3 pm Eastern Time, Peter “Pete” Golenbock '67 will be our guest for a Casual Conversation about . . . lots of things. No kidding.
Here is what Dudley Kay, who recruited Pete for a Casual Conversation, wrote about him:
A search on Amazon Books for "Peter Golenbock" speaks volumes (literally) about his wide-ranging writing career, which started at Dartmouth and then veered rather quickly from a barely budding law career (NYU) and first job at Prentice-Hall's tax division, where we met, became housemates, and played softball together.
And here is what Pete wrote about his life:
I grew up a Yankee fan because of Mickey Mantle. I had a book career because in my first book, Dynasty, I wrote that Billy Martin was as important as Mantle and Whitey Ford. Billy naturally wanted me to write his autobiography with him. His agent had another client, Sparky Lyle, and my book with him about the 1978, The Bronx Zoo, was the biggest selling sports book of all time. I then spent the next fifty years writing books mostly about sports, but also about politics and Hollywood. My mother didn't throw out my baseball cards. I traded my cards for autographs, and in the early 80s I was in financial difficulty, and I sold my autograph collection for $60,000. Three years later it was worth five million. I got my start writing at Dartmouth, on the newspaper. It's where I got to write about Red Rolfe, the Dartmouth athletic director and former third baseman for the Yankees. I also became close with Doggie Julian, Bob Blackman, and Tony Lupien, whom I interviewed for my book about the history of the Boston Red Sox. I got my start at The Dartmouth, and I never looked back.
So I looked at Pete’s career through the lens of Amazon as Dudley suggests, and found a vast array of books he authored or “helped” someone else author with Pete as a credited ghostwriter, i.e., memoirs or autobiographies. While the overwhelming number of books are about baseball, he has also written about NASCAR (at least three books, including The Last Lap), football (the Dallas Cowboys), true crime (Gangster Redemption), and Tony Curtis (American Prince: A Memoir).
A Casual Conversation with Pete could last for weeks, but we will only have a few hours on a Sunday to ask him questions and listen to him spin yarns about the people he has written about and known. Billy Martin tales could easily fill up the time. Or Tony Curtis: his famous “snails and oysters” scene with Laurence Olivier in Spartacus, and his great performance in Sweet Smell of Success. But be your taste fast cars, fast balls, crime, or movies - or any and all of them - join us on Sunday, June 5 at 3 pm Eastern.
If you want to participate, please send me an email at arthur.fergenson@ansalaw.com by the close of business the Friday before, June 3.
Arthur