Oh my, do I ever
and never miss an opportunity to talk about Sam when invited. Or even when not.
First, Sam and all of his brothers and sisters, my father and I were born in Danville, Indiana. I was four years old in 1934 when my family moved to Rochester, Michigan, but on vacations we would visit Danville for family gatherings. At that time, Sam's sisters Anna and Jessie lived together in a house on N. Indiana Street. Aunt Anna was a cashier at a local bank, and her husband had deserted her, never to be heard from again. Aunt Jessie was a spinster and a milliner by trade. I remember them well.
Nugget 1: Aunt Anna would reminisce. "Sammy would have to stoop to get through the doorways."
Nugget 2: My father and his cousins would beg Sam to play catch with them, but he never would.
Nugget 3: By any account, including newspaper articles and verbal family history, Sam was a "gentle giant" in a generation of ball players known for drinking and rowdy behaviour on and off the diamond.
Second, our family has been approached several times by authors seeking help in writing biographies. We have always demurred, but Roy Kerr was different. I have met him personally and have heard his "talk" he would give on book selling engagements and once at the Indiana Historical Society. One thing that attracted us to Roy was his agreement to portray Sam as a "rustic gentleman," and to me, this is one of the really important features of his book.
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