Photo: 9th American Tournament (1938)

[JR Smith]

You can check out http://www.nccheckers.org/NCCA/08%20Cle ... ibrary.htm Cleveland Library site has changed all their url so use the below

http://www.cpl.org/BooksMoviesMore/Coll ... books.aspx

[Jay H]

......, as one of these days I'd like to put together a scholarly project on checkers literature.

Seriously looking forward to that

Regards,

Jay H

[jaguar72]

Seriously looking forward to that

You are obviously a renaissance man, Jay!

Maybe if John publishes his "scholarly project" it would initiate a checkers renaissance... .

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[Jay H]

I applaud everyone's efforts to promote, preserve and sensationalize the game....John would be a perfect candidate for such an effort as he describes.



Regards

Jay H

[jaguar72]

I applaud everyone's efforts to promote, preserve and sensationalize the game....John would be a perfect candidate for such an effort as he describes.

Indeed he would. In the last four or five years chess has benefitted from the publication of some really fine books: J C Hallman's The Chess Artist, David Shenk's The Immortal Game, Paul Hoffman's King's Gambit and especially Michael Chabon's incredible, manic, and completely addictive The Yiddish Policemen's Union.

All of these books used chess as a theme and were of interest to the general reading public; that is, you didn't even have to play the game to enjoy them and be fascinated (and, perhaps, get interested enough to start playing...). The first three were "studies" (more-or-less) on chess, its relationship to larger society, and its influence on individuals (I guess this description makes them sound dry and perhaps a little boring, but they aren't, not in the least); Chabon's book is fiction (but boy-oh-boy is it good...).

Anyhow, there is no reason that a similar checkers book (or books) could not appeal to this much wider audience. The time may be ripe and checkers could use the boost; all we need is a reasonably skilled author. Are you listening, John?

I think you are exactly right, Jay: "promote, preserve and sensationalize" sums it up nicely.

V/R,

Gary Jenkins/jaguar72

[liam stephens]

Some of the older Checker books are now available in "print on demand " format, for example Call's Midget Problems.

Also recommended:

Charles Lamb - A Dissertation upon Roast Pig.

Walt Whitman - The Wound Dresser.

"The people are the heroes now.
Behemoth pulls the peasent's plow."

Alice Goodman