I’m an avid reader, and always have a book going on some topic or another. That got me to writing book reviews on some of them, and my last three reads have taken me in new directions.
The first two led to my taking on books that went well over 1,000 pages for the first time – one being a look back at Frank Delano Roosevelt’s life and times during World War II and the other a biographical look at Samuel Clements, an author better known as Mark Twain.
I couldn’t put the first one down – it was that historically captivating — and the second took me into previously uncharted territory. I had no inkling about the life of this famous author. While those books were most worthwhile reading I – for some reason – didn’t write my own reviews on either one.
When it comes to “Lambeau,’’ however, I couldn’t resist. Herb Gould, my long time sports-writing colleague at the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote this one. Kudos to Herb. While Herb didn’t hit the 1,000-page mark, he created a book that provided captivating reading from the first page to the last and his extensive research uncovered the complex life of a most worthy sports figure of the past.
Lambeau was “The Man Who Created the Green Bay Packers.’’ That team plays its home games in Lambeau Field, one of the most popular stadiums in the National Football League. The book might seem like a biography of Lambeau, and he was certainly a most interesting topic for that kind of writing. Herb has gone far beyond that, however.
He has given us a candid glimpse into what life was like in the early days of professional football – and those were interesting times, to be sure. Names like Vince Lombardi, George Halas, Johnny Blood and Don Hudson are prominent.
Their particulars are thoroughly covered in “Lambeau.’’ He was a successful player and coach before being forced out of his job leading the Packers. Then, though a series of lifestyle changes, he found Green Bay a happy place again.
Most interesting was the politics involved in getting Lambeau’s name on the city’s football stadium. Seems like his name should have been an obvious choice – but it wasn’t. You’ll have to read “Lambeau’’ to the end to find out how it happened.