There Will Be Cookies

Thank you. Since the recent publication of my first book, “Chief Bender’s Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star,” I have received numerous notes of support from fellow members of the Northfield community. Some have asked about a reading. Others have wondered where they could find the book. Several have wrote to offer congratulations. Or to tell me they purchased a copy — and, wow, that’s a make-my-day e-mail to find in the inbox!

Every word has been kind and every word has been appreciated more than you’ll know by reading this post.

Local bookstores have also been generous. River City Books, Monkey See-Monkey Read, the St. Olaf Bookstore, and the Carleton Bookstore all began carrying “Chief Bender’s Burden,” as soon as it became available — some at a discount.

This will sound strange, but the timing of the book’s release came as a surprise to me. My publisher set a release date of April 1. I knew copies would be available for purchase sooner than that, but they arrived ahead of even the advance schedule. For those who have asked, yes, I am going to have one or more local cookies-and-conversation events. It’s just that I have been planning with the official publication date in my head.

If you would like to learn more about the book you could stop by one of those four fine bookstores. You could also visit my locally produced Web site — if for no other reason than to admire the work of the supremely talented Sean Hayford O’Leary — or, if you can stand stiff doses of shameless self-promotion, check out my blog.

For now I’ll end as I began. Thank you!