Not Just Baseball: Traveling to Remote America - Paperback

by William Bourne (Author)

William Bourne grew up loving baseball, playing in an under-eighteen league in Greenwich, Connecticut, with his brother. As an adult, he traced the history of Minor League baseball, traveling to various baseball towns - mostly with his brother, Jim, and son, Michael. They chose Single A teams because it gave them the chance to visit small, remote towns. Over a period of years, they traveled almost 36,000 miles via airplanes and rented cars, seeing dozens of games in twenty-two states, plus western Canada. They avoided Southern states as they were usually traveling in July and August when it was hot. Seattle was their most western point, and Portland, Maine, was the most eastern. Each trip was spontaneous, and they regularly ran into interesting people and situations. Driving into Hannibal, Missouri, introduced the author to Mark Twain, prompting him to read three of his novels as well as a biography. He learned Twain often snuck out of his house at midnight to meet his buddies down by the Mississippi River's edge, which is where he no doubt did much of his dreaming. Join the author as he celebrates his love of baseball, family, and America, traveling through quaint villages.

Author Biography

Bill Grew up in Greenwich, Ct. after World War 11. He was an active sports player in Baseball, Tennis, Squash, Hockey and Golf. He graduated from University of Notre Dame 1958, majoring in Finance. He traveled throughout Europe that summer for two months. Entered the US Army at Fort Dix, N.J. for six months. Took another two month excursion to Europe after serving in the Service. Started work on Wall Street, and later became a portfolio manager until retirement in 2010. During the 1990s and the following decade, he joined a group of 15 friends to bike in a different country each year for a few weeks in Europe for several years.