Lady in the Locker Room; Uncovering the Oakland Athletics
Champaign, Illinois: Sagamore, 1993. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. xvii, [1], 231, [7] pages. Illustrations. The Lineup Inscribed by the author on the fep. Inscription reads To Dennis, a fellow O's fan & writer--Oh, and cousin...Enjoy! Susan Fornoff 7/14/93. Susan Fornoff’s childhood influenced her career choice; the location left an imprint on a particular part of that career. Fornoff was born February 4, 1958 and grew up in Baltimore. Her father took Susan to Memorial Stadium to watch Johnny Unitas and the Colts and, during the warmer months, to see the Orioles with their infield of Brooks Robinson at third, Luis Aparicio and Mark Belanger at shortstop, Dave Johnson at second base, and Boog Powell at first base—a group that earned a combined 29 Gold Gloves during their years with Baltimore. A journalism major at the University of Maryland, Fornoff covered sports for the Baltimore News-American and USA Today before moving to the Bay Area and taking over as the beat writer for the Athletics for the Sacramento Bee in 1985. Fornoff was one of the pioneers of women sportswriters who fought for access to locker rooms and through double standards and attitudes that they were in a place they didn’t belong. In 1987, Fornoff became one of the co-founders of the Association for Women in Sports Media, a support network and advocacy group that promotes diversity in all types of sports media. Fornoff left the Sacramento Bee near the end of 1991. She then started a 15-year career in editing and reporting at the San Francisco Chronicle. In this book, the author exposes sexism in the big locker room of sports and sport journalism. She tells what a female reporter 'sees' inside the locker room and what she learns traveling with the team -- and, how to become accepted as one of the guys without ever becoming one. Part memoir, part expose, this work takes an intimate look at the life and challenges of a woman covering the superstar-laden Oakland A's during an era when it was a rarity and not a requirement to see a woman patrolling the sidelines for the network NFL telecast. Featured cast includes Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Tony La Russa, Dennis Eckersley, Reggie Jackson, Dave Stewart and more. From the author's website: I thought I was finished with newspapers when I wrote this memoir in 1993. Some might call it an expose; I consider it a scrapbook of the life and challenges of women covering sports in the days when it was unusual. Now Hollywood is developing the story for a motion picture. It is now a so-called “period piece.” The reactions that came from my fellow journalists have been mostly positive, though a few holier-than-thou scribes thought I had way more fun than was appropriate or professional. Cheers. The reactions from the people I covered, well, honestly, I am not sure how many of them actually read the book. Peace. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: Baseball, Oakland Athletics, Sportswriters, Locker Room, Dave Kingman, Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Tony La Russa, Dennis Eckersley, Reggie Jackson, Dave Stewart, Sexism, Reporters, Journalists, Sacremento Bee
ISBN: 0915611708
[Book #86063]
Price: $125.00