Gary Pomerantz

Last updated

Gary M. Pomerantz
Garypomerantz2014.jpg
Pomerantz in 2014
BornGary Mason Pomerantz
(1960-11-17) November 17, 1960 (age 62)
North Tarrytown, New York, U.S.
OccupationAuthor, lecturer, journalist
GenreNon-fiction
SubjectHistory, race relations, sports
Website
garympomerantz.com

Gary M. Pomerantz (born November 17, 1960) is an American journalist and author who lectures in the graduate program in journalism at Stanford University. [1] His books include Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn (1996 New York Times Notable Book of the Year), [2] a multi-generational biography of Atlanta, Georgia and its racial conscience, told through the families of Atlanta Mayors Maynard Jackson and Ivan Allen Jr., and The Last Pass: Cousy, Russell, the Celtics, and What Matters in the End (2018), a New York Times bestseller about race, regret and the storied Boston Celtics dynasty.

Contents

Early life

Pomerantz was born in North Tarrytown, New York, the youngest of three boys. His family moved to Orlando, Florida when he was a boy, and then to Los Angeles in 1971. He studied history at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with BA in 1982. While at Berkeley, he served for a time as sports editor of the flagship student newspaper, The Daily Californian. [3] [4]

Career

Pomerantz worked as a daily journalist for nearly two decades. In 1981, he followed John Feinstein and Michael Wilbon as a summer intern in the sports department at The Washington Post . At the Post, he covered Georgetown University basketball [5] and the National Football League. In 1987–1988, he served as a Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan, studying theater and the Bible. He then moved to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution where, for the next 11 years, he wrote social and political profiles, special projects, columns and served on the newspaper's editorial board.[ citation needed ]

His six nonfiction books feature a broad array of topics. Nine Minutes Twenty Seconds (2001), about the crash of Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 7529, was also published in China, Germany and Britain.[ citation needed ] In WILT, 1962 (2005), Pomerantz describes the night when basketball star Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Named an "Editors' Choice" book by The New York Times , [6] WILT, 1962 was described by Entertainment Weekly as "a meticulous and engaging narrative – a slam dunk of a read." [7]

Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn was optioned by independent studio wiip in fall 2021 and is currently in development for adaptation to television. [8]

In 2017, author Malcolm Gladwell praised Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn, telling Business Insider , "It's probably the best book I've read in quite some time. It's an incredibly cool way to think about a city. I've always been fascinated by Atlanta, and I didn't really understand the city until I read that book . . . It's told so beautifully through these two families. It's really a remarkable book." [9] His book, Their Life's Work, about the Pittsburgh Steelers' football dynasty of the 1970s, short-listed for the 2014 PEN/ESPN Award for literary sportswriting. [10]

From 1999 to 2001 Pomerantz served as distinguished visiting professor of journalism at Emory University in Atlanta. In 2007, he began lecturing at Stanford University, teaching courses on specialized reporting and writing. [11] [12]

Personal life

Pomerantz in 2022 Pomerantz in 2022.jpg
Pomerantz in 2022

Pomerantz lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, daughter of Charles R. Schwab.

Books

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilt Chamberlain</span> American basketball player (1936–1999)

Wilton Norman Chamberlain was an American professional basketball player who played at the center position. Standing at 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the sport's history. Several players and publications have argued that Chamberlain is the greatest of all time. He holds numerous NBA regular season records in scoring, rebounding, and durability categories; blocks were not counted during his career. He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, and elected to the NBA's 35th, 50th, and 75th anniversary teams. After his professional basketball career ended, Chamberlain played volleyball in the short-lived International Volleyball Association (IVA). He was also once league president, and is enshrined in the IVA Hall of Fame for his contributions. Renowned for his strength, he appeared as the antagonist in the 1984 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Conan the Destroyer. Chamberlain was also a lifelong bachelor and became notorious for his statement of having had sexual relations with as many as 20,000 women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maynard Jackson</span> American politician and attorney

Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. was an American attorney and politician who served as the 54th mayor of Atlanta, Georgia from 1974 to 1982, and again as the city's 56th mayor from 1990 to 1994. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first Black mayor of Atlanta and of any major city in the South; his three terms made him the second longest-serving mayor in the city's history, after six-term mayor William B. Hartsfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Cousy</span> American basketball player and coach (born 1928)

Robert Joseph Cousy is an American former professional basketball player. Cousy played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA All-Star and 1957 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), he was a core piece during the early half of the Celtics dynasty winning six NBA championships during his 13-year tenure with the Celtics. Nicknamed "The Houdini of the Hardwood", Cousy was the NBA assists leader for eight consecutive seasons, introducing a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills to the NBA. He is regarded as the first great point guard of the NBA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Russell</span> American basketball player and coach (1934–2022)

William Felton Russell was an American professional basketball player who played as a center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. A five-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 12-time NBA All-Star, he was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won 11 NBA championships during his 13-year career. Russell and Henri Richard of the National Hockey League are tied for the record of the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Russell is widely considered to be one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He led the San Francisco Dons to two consecutive NCAA championships in 1955 and 1956, and he captained the gold-medal winning U.S. national basketball team at the 1956 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peachtree Street</span> Main street of Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Peachtree Street is one of several major streets running through the city of Atlanta. Beginning at Five Points in downtown Atlanta, it runs North through Midtown; a few blocks after entering into Buckhead, the name changes to Peachtree Road at Deering Road. Much of the city's historic and noteworthy architecture is located along the street, and it is often used for annual parades,, as well as one-time parades celebrating events such as the 100th anniversary of Coca-Cola in 1986 and the Atlanta Braves' 1995 and 2021 World Series victories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malcolm Gladwell</span> Canadian journalist and science writer

Malcolm Timothy Gladwell is an English-born Canadian journalist, author, and public speaker. He has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996. He has published seven books: The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference (2000); Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (2005); Outliers: The Story of Success (2008); What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures (2009), a collection of his journalism; David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants (2013); Talking To Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know (2019) and The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War (2021). His first five books were on The New York Times Best Seller list. He is also the host of the podcast Revisionist History and co-founder of the podcast company Pushkin Industries.

Anne Rivers Siddons was an American novelist who wrote stories set in the southern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Auburn</span> United States historic place

The Sweet Auburn Historic District is a historic African-American neighborhood along and surrounding Auburn Avenue, east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The name Sweet Auburn was coined by John Wesley Dobbs, referring to the "richest Negro street in the world," one of the largest concentrations of African-American businesses in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Meschery</span> American basketball player-coach

Thomas Nicholas Meschery is an American former professional basketball player. Born in China, Meschery was a power forward with a 10-year National Basketball Association career from 1961 to 1971. He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors and the Seattle SuperSonics. He played in the 1963 NBA All-Star Game, making him the first foreign-born NBA player to be selected as an NBA All-Star. The Warriors not only retired his number 14, but also gave him a unique honor by incorporating the number into the team's logo from 1967 till 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wesley Dobbs</span>

John Wesley Dobbs was an African-American civic and political leader in Atlanta, Georgia. He was often referred to as the unofficial "mayor" of Auburn Avenue, the spine of the black community in the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Atlanta fire of 1917</span> 1917 fire which destroyed large parts of downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA

The Great Atlanta Fire of 1917 began just after noon on 21 May 1917 in the Old Fourth Ward of Atlanta, Georgia. It is unclear just how the fire started, but it was fueled by hot temperatures and strong winds which propelled the fire. The fire, which burned for nearly 10 hours, destroyed 300 acres (120 ha) and 1,900 structures displacing over 10,000 people. Damages were estimated at $5 million,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game</span> Record-setting basketball game

Wilt Chamberlain set the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association (NBA) by scoring 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169–147 win over the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, at Hershey Sports Arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania. It is widely considered one of the greatest records in the sport's history. Chamberlain set five other league records that game including most free throws made, a notable achievement, as he was regarded as a poor free throw shooter. Both teams broke the record for most combined points in a game (316).

Joseph Wayne Ruklick was an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Northwestern Wildcats and was an All-American in 1959. Ruklick was selected by Philadelphia in the second round of the 1959 NBA draft. He was known for passing the ball for the assist on Warriors teammate Wilt Chamberlain's final score en route to his NBA record 100-point game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1973 Atlanta mayoral election</span>

The 1973 Atlanta mayoral election was held on October 16, 1973, in Atlanta, Georgia. Vice Mayor Maynard Jackson was elected as the city's first African-American mayor, defeating incumbent Mayor Sam Massell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodney Mims Cook Sr.</span> American politician (1924–2013)

Rodney Mims Cook was a Georgia public figure who served for over twenty years as an Atlanta city alderman and member of the Georgia House of Representatives.

Albert Anthony Ten Eyck Brown (1878–1940) was an architect active in Atlanta, Georgia and other areas. Brown was born in Albany, New York. He studied at the New York Academy of Design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Celestine Sibley</span> American writer (1914–1999)

Celestine Sibley was a famous American newspaper reporter, syndicated columnist, and novelist in Atlanta, Georgia, for nearly sixty years.

Ben Kerner was an American professional basketball owner. He was the co-founder and owner of the St. Louis Hawks of the National Basketball Association, the present-day Atlanta Hawks. In 1946, Kerner co–founded with Leo Ferris a professional team in Buffalo, New York. The team then moved to become the Tri-Cities Blackhawks after a few games. Kerner moved the franchise from Moline, Illinois to Milwaukee in 1951 and to St. Louis in 1955. His 1958 St. Louis Hawks won the NBA Championship.

<i>Darktown</i> (novel)

Darktown, published in 2016, is the fourth novel by American author Thomas Mullen. Its sequel, Lightning Men, was published in September 2017.

References

  1. "Stanford Journalism -Faculty". California: Stanford University . Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  2. Goldberger, Paul (July 21, 1996). "Atlanta in Black and White By Paul Goldberger". The New York Times . New York. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  3. "About Gary - Gary M Pomerantz". Gary M Pomerantz. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  4. "Stanford Journalism - Lecturer Gary M. Pomerantz". journalism.stanford.edu.
  5. Sigel, Alan (March 8, 2013). "Hoya Euphoria, Georgetown basketball, the Big East, Syracuse, John Thompson Jr., and D.C.: An oral history". Washington City Paper . Washington. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  6. "The New York Times -Editors' Choice". The New York Times . New York. July 3, 2005. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  7. "Entertainment Weekly -Review". Entertainment Weekly . April 25, 2005. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  8. "Wiip Options 'Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn' Book For Television Adaptation". September 15, 2021. Retrieved June 21, 2022.
  9. "Malcolm Gladwell shares the best book he's read this year". Business Insider. Retrieved November 3, 2017.
  10. "PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing". June 17, 2014. Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  11. "Stanford Journalism -Visiting Lecturer". California: Stanford University . Retrieved September 10, 2014.
  12. "Forty Years Later Gary Pomerantz Tells a Tale of a Record-Breaking Team". Jewish Business News. November 4, 2013.