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Jane Leavy: Author of the 3 Best Baseball Biographies — Sandy, Mickey, & Babe

Jane Leavy:  Author of the 3 Best Baseball Biographies — Sandy, Mickey, & Babe

 

 




Introduction to Jane Leavy.  1:07 min.  Interview:  Raymond Elman. Camera:  Lee Skye.  Video Editor:  Maria Grijalva.  Music: Hadyn Quartet.  Portrait:  Raymond Elman.  Recorded:  11/18/2018, Miami Book Fair.

 

JANE LEAVY is the award-winning author of the New York Times bestsellers The Big Fella, Babe Ruth and the World He Created; The Last Boy, Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood; Sandy Koufax, A Lefty’s Legacy; and the comic novel Squeeze Play, which Entertainment Weekly called “the best novel ever written about baseball.” She was a staff writer at The Washington Post from 1979 to1988, first in the sports section, then writing for the style section. She covered baseball, tennis, and the Olympics for the paper. She wrote features for the style section about sports, politics, and pop culture, including, most memorably, a profile of Muggsy Bogues, the 5’3″ guard for the Washington Bullets, which was longer than he is tall. — www.janeleavy.com

On Friday, September 21, 2018, Leavy threw out the first pitch for the Yankees-Orioles game at Yankee Stadium.

The videos below are organized by topic and run between 30 seconds and 7 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

 

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED: 0:53 sec.




Where did you grow up, and what was your earliest memory of art of any discipline?

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS:   1:04 min.




When did you realize you were good at writing?

 

DEVELOP A VOICE:  4:08 min.




Where did you go to school and what did you learn that still informs you today?

 

TELLS A GREAT STORY:  2:22 min.




What was your path to the “Washington Post?”

 

CRITICAL THINKING: 1:39 min.




What are your thoughts about President Trump presenting the Medal of Freedom to Babe Ruth’s family?

 

OVERCOMES CHALLENGES TO SUCCEED:  2:33 min.




Talk about your experience as a female sportswriter for the “Washington Post.”

 

SELF-CONFIDENCE: 0:58 sec.




How long did you work for the “Washington Post” before you wrote a book?

 

CREATES A UNIQUE PERSONAL BRAND:   1:04 min.




Was the biography of Sandy Koufax your first book?

 

PERSEVERANCE FURTHERS:  4:44 min.




Tell us how the Sandy Koufax book came about.

 

EMPATHY:  0:33 sec.




What was Sandy Koufax’s reaction to your book?

 

EMPATHY: 0:34 sec.




Is it true that your daughter invited Koufax to her Bat Mitzvah?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  4:51 min.




You were a Mickey Mantle fan growing up. Tell us the story about writing “The Last Boy.”

 

UNDERSTANDS THE BUSINESS OF ART:  1:42 min.




What made you decide to write about Babe Ruth?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  2:40 min.




When I was growing up, Babe Ruth was the biggest name in baseball, even though he was deceased. Is that still true today?

 

INSIGHT & INSPIRATION:  6:47 min.




What did you uncover about Babe Ruth’s childhood?

 

TELLS A GREAT STORY:  3:19 min.




Talk about the experience of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium.

 

CRITICAL THINKING:  3:10 min.




Tell us about the “found-objects” sculptures you make.