Author Interview
Q: Tell me about writing the book.
A: I had the first draft of Curse to Verse: The Red Sox Miracle Season from A to Z written before the last out of the Series was recorded. Like every other Red Sox fan, I had so much nervous energy during the World Series that I had to find an outlet for it and for me it was writing this poem. I didn't expect it to turn into a book. That came later when I met with an illustrator who lives down the street from me named Miles Lewis. We were meeting to discuss him illustrating some characters that I have in mind for a children's television show, and when he showed me his portfolio he had these beautiful baseball drawings. And I thought, "I've got this poem".
Q: The market has obviously been flooded with Red Sox books since they won the World Series. How is yours different from all the other books?
A: Well, I think our book has the ability to take you back in your mind to that incredible season more effectively than the other Red Sox books. The illustrations, while being very realistic, are kind of impressionistic in a way and I think if you sit down with Curse to Verse it serves as a kind of gateway into your own memories of where you were and how the whole experience made you feel. Also, there is a great history of poetry and the game of baseball dating back to Casey at the Bat. This poem is the opposite of Casey at the Bat. For once in Red Sox history, "Casey" did not strike out. And there was most definitely joy in Mudville.
Q: Do you believe there was a curse on the Red Sox?
A: In my lifetime, I feel it was more of a history of bad managing that cursed the Red Sox more than anything else. From John McNamara pulling Roger Clemens in 1986 (which is referenced in the poem) and then not replacing Bill Buckner with Dave Stapleton, to Grady Little leaving Pedro in against the Yankees in 2003, I think that had more to do with our historic losses than anything else. But I must admit, when Curt Schilling pulled up lame against the Angels in the Divisional Series, I began to think, "Maybe there is a curse." My daughter Zella and I went to Fenway in 2004 and saw a game. I like to think Zella broke the curse. And that's the way it is with Red Sox fans, everyone had something that they did superstitiously that helped break the curse.
Q: How long have you been a fan of the Red Sox?
A: Well, I grew up in Connecticut where all the people around me were Yankee fans. As I remember it, I went to Yankee Stadium in the "Bobby Mercer" era when the Yankees weren't that good (1972-1974). There was a guy behind us who was rooting for the Red Sox. And he kept screaming their names and I loved the guys nicknames -- Dewey, Yaz, Butch, Boomer. They just stuck with me. And not long after that, the Red Sox went to the World Series and I'll never forget when Carlton Fisk hit the home run that he willed fair. I remember jumping up and down on the bed. I was seven years old. I'll never forget the 1978 playoff against the Yankees. Our whole fourth grade class watched the game at school and I was the only Red Sox fan in the room. School ended and we had to leave and luckily the bus driver had the game on the radio. So I listened to the game on the bus and I swear, right when he got to my house, Bucky Dent was on his way to the plate and I thought, "Thank God, Bucky Dent can't hit." And as I remember it I ran into the house and when I turned on the game, Bucky Dent was trotting around the bases, having hit a home run. I couldn't believe it. And In 1986, I lived in Boston and drove an Ice Cream truck which I parked outside of Fenway during home games. So I have very fond memories of all those historic years. There's just nothing like rooting for the Red Sox.
Q: Is your book a children's book?
A: That's a good question. We view it as a treasured keepsake for the entire family. It is an illustrated book and employs the A to Z poetic device which might make one think it's a straight up children's book. But there is another kind of way to employ the A to Z device and that is "the everything you need to know about" kind of book. Curse to Verse has everything you need to remember that historic year that the Red Sox won it all. It references all 25 guys on the post-season roster and recalls the four times the Red Sox made it to the World Series since 1918 -- 1946, 1967, 1975 and 1986. Anyway, we think children will enjoy the book and will live into an understanding of some of the history of the book. For instance, no child will understand the reference to Johnny Pesky's infamous double-pump (that allowed Enos Slaughter to score the winning run in Game Seven of the 1946 World Series from first base). But knowing that little piece of lore is what this book is all about. That's what made the victory so sweet -- it's the history of heartache that plagued the team.
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Publicity:
Ward & Company PR
Public Relations/Communications
17 Gloucester Street, Boston MA 02115
mward@wardpr.com
tel 617.247.8797
fax 815.425.6688
Author:
Geoffrey Hanson
cursetoverse@aol.com
