Holy Toledo: Lessons From Bill King, Renaissance Man of the Mic Author: Visit Amazon's Ken Korach Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0985419040 | Format: EPUB
Holy Toledo: Lessons From Bill King, Renaissance Man of the Mic Description
- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Wellstone Books (September 6, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0985419040
- ISBN-13: 978-0985419042
- Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
At first glance... a prospective reader that had not spent time listening to sports in the bay area from the 1960's to the early 2000's... would probably not be interested in this book. If you're one of those... you'll be sorry. I am going to give you a second chance to grasp at an opportunity to read a book that is extremely interesting on many... many... levels. The late Bill King at one time was the radio announcer for the Oakland Raiders... Oakland A's... and the Golden State Warriors! That alone would qualify as interesting. But the unique..." I'm me"... and that's the way it is... personality of Bill... is yet another level of interest. The fact that Mr. King was a self-taught man... who continued to reinvent himself... in so many unique ways... from studying Russian Poetry... to studying art... to his indulgence and exploration of foods... and foods that some people wouldn't consider foods... such as one of his favorites....*CALF-BRAIN-TACOS*... uggh... washed down with Dos Equis... (Dramatic-pause... pause.) ... FOR BREAKFAST! His study of wines... and boats...
And his never ending dedication to prepare himself for every game... in every sport... every day. As Bill became famous and a household name in Northern California... one of the main points of this book... is he never let one of his sidekicks or co-hosts feel left out. There were many moments in the spotlight that he could have easily hogged or simply cashed in the large stack of chips he had rightfully earned... to keep the light shining solely on him... but he graciously let admiring and lesser known individuals bask in that precious warm light. In fact... the largest portion of this book is built around testimonials overflowing with admiration and thanks from everyone from John Madden... to Rick Barry...
Baseball announcers are often regional phenomena with stories of little interest to anyone but fans of the team they cover.
Oakland A's announcer Ken Korach has produced a loving, but more importantly, a vivid, compelling portrait of announcer Bill King entitled Holy Toledo Lessons for Bill King: Renaissance Man of the Mic.
It is must reading for any sports fan. In addition to serving as the A's play-by-play man, King was also the voice of the Oakland (as well as Los Angeles) Raiders and Golden State Warriors.
But it is more than simply a story for sports fans. It is a portrait of a fascinating man, whose interests ranged from Russian literature to opera to ballet to sailing to art to gourmet meals and fine wine to tortillas with onions and peanut butter, not to mention popcorn covered with anything and everything.
King was truly an artist behind a microphone, painting accurate pictures, sweeping us into the action and educating his listeners to understand the nuances of whatever sport he was announcing.
If listeners and colleagues considered King an artist, King considered himself simply a hard-working reporter who had a treasury of stories and facts to fall back on. He had an eye that always saw the bigger picture, putting it into perspective but also allowing his listeners to focus on what was happening at the moment.
The way Bill King approached his work, the way Bill King approached his passions provide us with insights how we should approach life. He was always true to himself.
I talked with Ken about the book several times during the season, and commented that the irony of Bill King the sportscaster was that baseball, the sport he loved best, was probably his third best sport. Ken disliked that assessment.
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