A May 25, 2014, Detroit Tigers game is the subject of a book edited by UWindsor professor Dale Jacobs.
Detroit is part of his neighbourhood, says English professor Dale Jacobs. It takes the Windsor resident less than half an hour to get from his home to his seats in Comerica Park.
That proximity helped make the lifelong baseball fan into a Tigers fan, and inspired him to recruit the contributors to Sunday with the Tigers: Eleven Ways to Watch a Game. The book will enjoy a public launch Wednesday, April 8, at the Caboto Club.
Dr. Jacobs had the group—10 writers and a photographer—attend a contest against the Texas Rangers on May 25, 2014, to document their experiences.
“All the authors are either from Windsor or have a very close connection to the city,” Dr. Jacobs says. “I decided it would be good to have a common perspective, while at the same time having some pretty radical differences.”
He included a mix of men and women, young and older, dedicated fans and people who had never watched a ballgame. That group included many with ties to the university, including Jacobs’ departmental colleagues Susan Holbrook and Marty Gervais, whose Black Moss Press published the book.
Students in Gervais’ third-year practicum course in editing and publishing helped to shape the book, its design and marketing.
“Working with Marty’s class was great, because the students all helped me shape responses to the authors,” Jacobs says. “The authors were very good with the feedback. I think we got the best book we possibly could have got out of it.”
Fourth-year student Travis Fauteux says the experience brought his education outside the classroom.
“I learned to work as part of a team, how to help organize a book launch, how to help design a book cover and hot to promote a book being sold internationally,” he says. “At the end, we also get to hold the book in our hands—the book into which we’ve put months of thought and effort.”
Wednesday’s reception begins at 7 p.m. and will also launch two works by UWindsor alumni: Peter Hrastovec’s volume of poetry Sidelines and Gillian Cott’s memoir Make Me, Remake Me.
Organizing committee co-chair Nicole Dziamarski says this year’s event is broadening its appeal to encompass high school students as well as younger children.
