William Brashler

William Brashler (born 1947) is an American author and journalist. He is best known for writing The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings, which was published in 1973. ^{[1] [2]} A film adaptation, directed by John Badham and starring Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams, was released in 1976. ^[3] Bingo Long was chosen as one of the top 100 sports books of all time by Sports Illustrated , in 2002. ^[4] The 20th anniversary edition of the book included a preface by sports historian Peter C. Bjarkman. ^[1]

Career

City Dogs, Brashler's next novel, was inspired by his time covering the Chicago police beat, and was favorably reviewed by Kirkus Reviews and The New York Times . ^{[5] [6]} The New Yorker gave it a mixed review, however, calling it "erratically interesting," with only some of Bingo Long's "attractiveness and humor." ^[7]

Brashler grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, attended Calvin College and graduated from the University of Michigan in 1969. A collection of his papers is held at Calvin's Heritage Hall, Hekman Library. ^[8] Brashler is an alumnus of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. ^[9]

He worked as a journalist for Lerner Newspapers. ^[10]

Brashler coauthored Johnny Bench's 1979 autobiography. ^{[11] [12]}

Books

• The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1973)
• City Dogs (1976)
• The Don: The Life and Death of Sam Giancana (1977)
• Josh Gibson: A Life in the Negro Leagues (1978)
• The Chosen Prey (1982)
• Traders (1989)
• The Story of Negro League Baseball (1994)

References

1. Brashler, William. "UI Press | William Brashler | The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings: A Novel". www.press.uillinois.edu.
2. "William Brashler talks about his book "Bingo Long's Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings"". The WFMT Studs Terkel Radio Archive.
3. "The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings" – via www.imdb.com.
4. Illustrated, the staff of Sports. "The Top 100 Sports Books of All Time". Vault.
5. "CITY DOGS by William Brashler | Kirkus Reviews" – via www.kirkusreviews.com.
6. "Four novels". February 29, 1976 – via NYTimes.com.
7. "The New Yorker Digital Edition : Feb 16, 1976". archives.newyorker.com.
8. "William Brashler Collection, 1968-1993 | Heritage Hall, Hekman Library". archives.calvin.edu.
9. notes, John Blades, Literary. "BRASHLER DEFTLY JUMPS FROM FICTION TO NON-FICTION". chicagotribune.com.
10. Zorn, Eric. "Publisher's name is gone, not his mark". chicagotribune.com.
11. "Johnny Bench | Society for American Baseball Research". sabr.org.
12. Bench, Johnny (April 29, 1979). "Bench's Dilemma: To Sign or Not to Sign" – via NYTimes.com.