My Home Team

July 1, 2023
An iconic American sportswriter returns to his Midwest roots and finds his greatest story. How did a much-decorated sports columnist and author who chronicled some of the most epic athletic events since the 1960s end up writing for a high school girls' basketball team's website in exchange for Milk Duds? In this fast-paced, endearing memoir written in three acts, Kindred chronicles a circuitous route to his hometown and what could be his most important and personally meaningful subject: the dominant Morton High School Lady Potters hoops squad. The author, who wrote nationally recognized sports columns for publications such as the Washington Post, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Golf Digest, recounts his idyllic upbringing, the rapid changes in the newspaper business during his career, juggling work and family, and his success in emulating his sportswriting heroes and gurus, particularly Red Smith. Kindred has an elephantine memory and sharp eye for detail, talents that distinguished his columns and add flavor to his descriptions of his unique relationship with Muhammad Ali; his coverage of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing (and beating a libel suit by exonerated suspect Richard Jewell); and a panoply of Super Bowls, Kentucky Derbys, and Masters tournaments. Kindred often zigzags in and out of his memories of events and all involved; this may be dizzying for some, but a completely chronological recitation would be ill-suited to this book. The narrative is also an ode to his wife, Cheryl, his high school sweetheart and all-everything partner, whose health problems precipitated their move back home once Kindred left full-time work. The author writes candidly of personal heartache, loss, and the solace that the no-frills, community-oriented world of small-town high school athletics brings. His profiles of the Lady Potters and what the team meant to him during difficult days are every bit as compelling--if not more so--as the famous athletes he covered in thousands of columns. "When the wages are Milk Duds," he writes, "it's everything else that matters." An enjoyable, poignant, meaningful memoir.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from July 1, 2023
Typically, revered sports journalist Kindred, now 82, writes about the lives of other people, including Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods. This time he shares his own story, from his roots in Illinois to stints at the Washington Post to a return to his hometown, where he enthusiastically and generously volunteers to cover the Morton High School women's basketball team, the Lady Potters, a commitment that brings him joy and carries him through difficult times. Kindred charmingly recounts how he fell in love with Cheryl, his wife of 59 years, then heartbreakingly records her slow decline after a stroke and her 2021 death after COVID-19 erased any remaining vitality. He shares his grappling with another tragedy, the death of his grandson, which led to Leave Out the Tragic Parts (2021). Admirably, Kindred avoids self-pity whether he's writing about personal losses or professional setbacks. Instead, he cites the inspiration of such legends as earlier sportswriter Red Smith, and the camaraderie among contemporary sportswriters. Small wonder 60 Minutes ran a 2021 segment on this award-winning sportswriter.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.