Local Legends II: The Stories Continue

When Evansville, Indiana author Ron Eaton finished his first book, Local Legends: The Stories behind the Headlines, he realized there were more tales to be told. So with the same enthusiasm and respect, he set out once again to find the stories behind the achievements of many of the athletes and coaches from the Evansville area. As a former athlete and coach, the author has unique perspective of and appreciation for athletic excellence, and the subjects in this book were open and honest about the events that inspired their legendary status. Local Legends II features plenty of facts and figures but also exposes the nuances of each story. The pages also include hundreds of photos and the work of renowned local artist Jon Siau as the tales unfold about sports icons from the 1950s through 2012. Readers will discover that the road to greatness is rarely easy, and these pieces delve into the minds of athletes and coaches to reveal the true stories that turned men and women into legends. After two years, Ron has completed another labor of love in the hopes that readers will enjoy the journey through time, as well. As he said in the first book, his goal is to bring generations together through their love of sports, and if just one mother or father or grandmother or grandfather uses Local Legends II as a means of sharing a passion for sports, then the effort will have been worth it. Front Dust Jacket Flap: Even before he published Local Legends: The Stories Behind the Headlines in 2008, Ron Eaton realized there were far too many outstanding athletes and great teams from Southern Indiana past and present to capture in one book. In Local Legends II: The Stories Continue, Eaton does much of the catching up. The first Legends book provided outstanding details about some of the area s sports celebrities people like legendary University of Evansville basketball coach Arad McCutchan, New York Yankees great Don Mattingly (now manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers) and quarterback Bob Griese, who won two Super Bowls in the 70s with the Miami Dolphins. While working for Florida newspapers, I had the opportunity to first meet two of those legends Griese, while covering the 1978 Pro Bowl in Tampa, and Mattingly during spring training in the mid- 80s. Neither interview lasted long enough to get around to asking about high school heroics and hometown memories, though. So it wasn t until I decided to relocate to Evansville in 2007 that it dawned on me that Mattingly and Griese were both from here. Of course, that was back when everything I knew about Evansville came from reading chamber of commerce brochures and Wikipedia. The first Legends book filled me in on more of the area s rich athletic history, providing insight into dozens of other hometown heroes from Southern Indiana and the rest of the Tri-state region. The chapters on Aces basketball greats Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes and Don Buse gave me a greater appreciation for my new hometown. The book also helped me realize that Southern Indiana s athletic roots run deep in basketball, football, baseball, tennis, golf and soccer and compare favorably with any other place I ve lived in Florida and South Carolina. Legends II brings that rich history to the present. You will read about local golfing legends Jerry Schreiber and Kevin Wassmer, football standouts Deke Cooper and Curtis Painter, as well as basketball brothers Luke, Tyler and Cody Zeller. Eaton even tackles the still developing stories of many of this generation s outstanding high school and college athletes. By the time their stories are complete, Eaton may even have to consider compiling a third Legends book. -Randy Beard (Randy Beard is the sports editor of the Evansville Courier & Press)