Holy Toledo: Lessons From Bill King, Renaissance Man of the Mic Author: Ken Korach | Language: English | ISBN:
B00F02NOUG | Format: PDF
Holy Toledo: Lessons From Bill King, Renaissance Man of the Mic Description
“We all wanted to live vicariously through Bill. The things that he did, we wished we could do." JOHN MADDEN
Bill King, longtime voice of the A’s, Warriors and Raiders, was a beloved figure in California for decades, celebrated for his passion and precision in calling a game and for his colorful life away from sports, an utterly original figure who lives today in the hearts and memories of countless fans. Bill was also one of the most influential broadcasters of all time, an inspiration to legions of his fellow broadcasters who looked up to him.
Ken Korach, longtime voice of the A’s and Bill’s partner for ten seasons until King’s death in 2005, is the perfect one to bring Bill to life on the page. A half-century ago, Ken Korach was a kid in Los Angeles, spinning the night dial to tune in Warriors basketball games from faraway San Francisco for one reason: He just had to hear Bill. Now he tells the remarkable story of King the legendary baseball, basketball and football broadcaster, the student of Russian literature, the passionate sailor, the fan of eating anything and everything from gourmet to onions and peanut butter, the remarkable painter.
Korach draws on a lifetime of listening to and learning from King – as well as extensive research, including more than fifty interviews with King’s family members, colleagues, friends and associates – to create this rich portrait.
Holy Toledo features a moving foreword by Hall of Fame broadcaster Jon Miller, previously of ESPN, and a brilliant cover by Mark Ulriksen, internationally recognized for his New Yorker magazine covers, that captures King’s flair and personality.
Billy Beane
“The best part about Bill wasn’t just that he was so good at his job but that he was so interesting outside of his job. His mustache epitomized that. He looked eccentric and he was eccentric, in a good way.”
Bob Welch
“If I had a hitter I had trouble with, I’d ask Bill how I should pitch him. He always had a good answer.”
Greg Papa
“Bill King was the greatest radio broadcaster in the history of the United States.”
Tom Meschery
“Talking with Bill was like talking with an encyclopedia. If you wanted to talk sports, literature – when Bill talked you listened, because he always had something interesting to talk about.”
Al Attles
“He didn’t sugarcoat it. Bill was a departure from the way it was. If a player from the Warriors made a mistake, Bill told it like it was.”
Ed Rush
“I’d put the radio out the window and keep turning it to certain angles and it would go in and go out. I’d listen to the Warriors and the Raiders. To do all three sports like he did, he was phenomenal. He was out of this world.”
Tom Flores
“Bill made some of the great plays in the history of the Raiders even greater with his description. Those moments were kept alive in his voice.”
Jason Giambi
“He was such an incredible man. I had so much fun with him and he would always ask how my family was doing and I have the fondest memories of him. We would talk about life and all the things he had seen. He made me well rounded.”
Rick Barry
“He had the ability to see a game, a basketball game, and express what was happening in eloquent terms, at times instantaneously. When he was saying something, it was happening."
- File Size: 1375 KB
- Print Length: 240 pages
- Publisher: Wellstone Books (September 5, 2013)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00F02NOUG
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #77,115 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #59
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Baseball
- #59
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Sports > Baseball
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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