Heard from a publisher last week who’s interested in Everybody’s Game. Large house, many successes, but I’ll not name them unless we sign. They have an earlier draft of the book, which I finished last fall. I’m happy with that draft, but being a writer, I know I can improve on it. So I asked them to wait a couple of weeks while I polish once more, and think things over. Man, the book still feels right, though I’ve not looked at it for four months. Instinctively I can tell what needs refining, what needs expanding, and what to leave alone. I feel very strongly about this book and subject. Read synopsis at bottom and I suspect you will too.

For all you painters and sculptors, you know exactly what I’m talking about. I’ll finish this draft in another week, which means a lot of coffee and not much sleep, but I’m used to that. Afterward, the publisher and I will talk.

Had lunch with good old Jim Galle. He’s a principal at DLR Group architecture. We brainstormed on a new sculpture project. I’d love to discuss it, but it’s still in the storm stage.

The paintings at top are by Jerry Moon, for whom we have a show on March 24th. These pieces, now sold, were done in egg tempera, and done with very small brushes. Dig the way he puts in the curvature of the earth. This hints at enormity while still keeping the paintings at moderate size. Very intelligent use of perspective. I love his titles too.

Synopsis, Everybody’s Game, 65,000 words
Organized sports have become a disaster for most kids because of how certain adults run the games: the yelling, negativity, and occasional violence. Most leagues tolerate this, and I confront them head-on, revealing how these cruel attitudes have ruined children’s sports, and why it is time for a change. Why would I know about this? Because I was a baseball coach for eight years—albeit a kind one.

Everybody’s Game is about changing kids’ lives by coaching baseball—and all sports—with compassion. It’s about life and its myriad challenges, and sacrificing as a parent or coach, even when you’re broke and overworked. Especially it’s about the things that will matter when you’re on your deathbed: how many struggling children you helped, as opposed to how many games you won.

To keep the book compelling, in alternating chapters I tell about my team of “geeks” who grew into confident ball players over several seasons. Why? Because millions of children feel discounted athletically, as millions of parents once did, as I once did too.

Primarily though the book is about growth: for the child, the parent, and the family. Programs like Oprah place great emphasis on this; so do I. My voice is one of humor, experience and compassion, as I take the reader on a rewarding journey.

I discuss how to be an involved parent or effective coach, covering practices, drills, games, and so forth. But I also cover medicated kids, depressed kids, overweight kids, and all the decadent influences that parents have to deal with in today’s world. The tested solutions I offer unfold with each chapter. So does the philosophy of how when you coach well, you create a sense of community—something our society sorely needs.

My own story as a writer unfolds with the book as well: the enormous challenges I’ve faced, and my deep love for my family. I tell how coaching was thrust upon me—me, an artist and one-time athletic failure—how at first I resisted it then came to love it, mostly for the kids. I even learned to hit homers at age 40.

Teaching as I entertain, I reveal how coaching with discipline and love is one way of giving back to your society beyond the overwrought professional world, since the journey of the child comes before that of the adult. I’ve written this book to be timely (steroid scandals, out-of-control parents), but also timeless.