BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – On Saturday, June 17, at 1 p.m., Village Square Booksellers in Bellows Falls, Vt., welcomes Mike Brown, Bellow Falls Union High School Alumnus, to read from and discuss his book “The Umpire’s Bunkhouse: Baseball Stories from Cooperstown’s Dreams Park.”
Who are they? The men in blue have masks covering their faces, and there’s an undeniable, deep mystique about umpires. “The Umpire’s Bunkhouse: Baseball Stories from Cooperstown’s Dreams Park,” will give the real truth about umpires. They come from all over the nation. They are wise and kind people who believe integrity is everything. During an era of major league cheating scandals with cameras hidden in the outfield fences, and the threat of robots replacing human umpires, it is timely to read “The Umpire’s Bunkhouse.” Baseball umpires survive, if not thrive, staying together in primitive bunkhouses, with no heat or air conditioning, and thin mattresses. Read how a baseball bully is handled, and ultimately overcome, with a little help from the author’s friends in blue. Call 802-463-9404 for book and event reservations, or order online at www.villagesquarebooks.com/book/9781977224316.
Author Michael Marshall Brown has memories of Cooperstown, as sports editor of the Daily Star newspaper, and as he covered the nearby Baseball Hall of Fame in the 1980s. His personal contacts with stars of the game include Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Warren Spahn, Hank Aaron, and Cool Papa Bell. Michael Marshall Brown has been involved with baseball and a spectrum of sports. As a journalist and public relations professional in Vermont, New York, and Ohio, he covered the 1980 Winter Olympic Games in Lake Placid. Mr. Brown was also assigned to the International Ski Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, and he won several national and regional awards for college publications and media success. He covered the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown during the 1980s. Mr. Brown graduated from Bellows Falls Union High School, and earned varsity letters in four sports. He graduated from Saint Michael’s College in Vermont, with a major in journalism, and he played college basketball. He now works as an author, umpire, referee, and a teacher. He also authored the award-winning Outdoor Legacy column for years in several newspapers.