She's Got Game: Recapping an event for Christine Brennan's bio of Caitlin Clark
The celebrated journalist and author's book tour event promoting her bio on former Iowa and WNBA star Caitlin Clark veered into Cyclone Country and I was there
AMES — I haven’t attended many book events in recent years and that’s a problem.
One, they’re fun and informative — and supporting the arts in these troubled times is as important as ever.
Two, they bring people together — and a sense of community in these troubled times is as important as ever.
End of preamble. Let’s dig into Christine Brennan’s event.
Christine Brennan’s book tour event promoting the release of her Caitlin Clark bio: “One Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution on Women’s Sports”
Brennan is a trailblazing female journalist who’s covered just about everything with heart and panache. She became captivated by former Iowa and current WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark’s story a few years ago and the genesis for what turned out to be a rapidly written and published book sprang from that interest.
Brennan likens Clark’s star power to Bruce Springsteen and Taylor Swift. She’s packed arenas across the Big Ten and the WNBA but has also became a lightning rod — both athletically and politically — for people intent on exploiting division and fanning the flames of discord.
There’s a racial element to her story — especially her “feud” with fellow star Angel Reese. Not her fault and not her idea. Again, people want to make her a mascot. Everyone except the WNBA, it seems.
That’s part of the thrust of Brennan’s entertaining and thought-provoking book. The league just doesn’t seem willing to ride her famous coattails. Some don’t think she’s worthy of said fame. Some want to celebrate the league’s past and ignore her obvious boost to its present. This baffles Brennan (and me and many others).
It also perplexes longtime Iowa State women’s basketball Bill Fennelly, who spoke at the event put on by (support your independent book shop) Dog Eared Books in Ames.
“This is a great, great story,” Fennelly said. “I’m really proud of Christine to write about such a special person. I know Caitlin very well. Her brother (Blake) played football at Iowa State, so they do have a little Iowa State in ‘em. Unfortunately, not enough.”
Zing.
You can always count on Fennelly for a good joke or pithy one-liner.
But Clark’s story has many layers and transcends her legendary logo 3-pointers and crisp, precise assists. She simply won’t allow herself to be put in a box. She doesn’t pander nor preach. She simply plays ball and gives thoughtful answers to sometimes foolish questions.
Damn your agenda, she says. I’m gonna be me — and I’m gonna ball out.
Gotta respect that. Oh, and the book’s available everywhere, of course, but I urge you to buy from your local independent retailer because, well, in these troubled times (and all times), they need all the support they can get. Also, here’s a link to Iowa Writer’s Collaborative founder Julie Gammack’s excellent interview of Brennan.
Cheers. I’m off to Ireland for a two-week vacation sandwiched around Iowa State’s week zero season opener against arch-rival Kansas State on Aug. 23. I will definitely share some thoughts from the wrong side of the road in this space, so please stay tuned.
QUOTE I’M PONDERING
“When one with honeyed words but evil mind persuades the mob, great woes befall the state.” — Euripides
ALSO …
I’m going to be a “with” on another book. I loved being tabbed by the great Ray Cole to he his “with” for his book, “Hangin’ with Winners,” which you should order from your local bookseller even though it’s a few years old and some of the subjects were revealed to be weasels rather than winners.
Now I’m helping my good friend Chris Williams write his first book. Chris is the publisher of Cyclone Fanatic (one of my freelance employers) and has become a budding media mogul. I’ll share more about his project as publication nears (should be late fall).
ONE MORE ALSO …
I’m SO PROUD (nod to Paul Rhoads) to be a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Please peruse the illustrious and extensive list below and subscribe and support as you’re able. Thanks!
Meet our writers
Newcomers: Here is a link to the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Sunday Roundup, where you can get a compilation of our members’ work published the previous week.
Iowa Writers’ Collaborative Roster
Des Moines Metro
Chip Albright: Chip Happens
Rekha Basu: Shouts and Whispers
Kelsey Bigelow: There’s a Poem in That
Dartanyan L. Brown: My Integrated Life
Jane Burns: The Crossover
Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media
Christina Fernández-Morrow: Hola Iowa
Daniel P. Finney: Paragraph Stacker
Abena Sankofa Imhotep: The Imhotep Report
Wini Moranville: Wini’s Food Stories
Kyle Munson: Kyle Munson’s Main Street
John Naughton: My Life in Color
Dave Price: Dave Price’s Perspective
Teresa Zilk: Talking Good
West Des Moines
Jane Nguyen: The Asian Iowan
Norwalk
Macey Shofroth: The Midwest Creative
Clive
Dennis Goldford: Let’s Talk Politics
Altoona
Ken Chester: TecMobility
Bondurant
Kali White VanBaale: Mind the Gap
Ankeny
Maxwell Schaeffer: Maxwell’s Voice
Rob Gray: Rob Gray’s Area
Christie Vilsack: Common Ground, Van Meter
Connie Taylor, Grandma’s Recipe Box, Des Moines
Eastern Iowa
Cedar Rapids
Todd Dorman: 24-hour Dorman
Oelwein
John Crabtree: Though the Heavens Fall
Carol Montag: Monday’s Music
Jeff Morrison: Between Two Rivers
Iowa City
Nina Elkadi: Corn Belt Confidential
Michael Judge: The First Person
Ty Rushing: Ty’s Take
Zachary Oren Smith: Cornhole Champions
North Liberty
Steve Semken: Ice Cube Press, LLC
Davenport (Quad Cities)
Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi
Alison McGaughey: In the Fields
Eldridge
Deidre Cox Baker: Baker’s Heartbeat
Waterloo
Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley
Elkader
Larry Stone: Listening to the Land
Boone County
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business
Quad Cities
Tory Brecht: Brecht’s Beat
Northwestern Iowa
Storm Lake
Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook
Joan Zwagerman: Nuts and Bolts
Carroll
Douglas Burns: The Iowa Mercury
Sioux City
Taylor Decker: Taylor’s Millennial Mindset
Sioux Center
Nicole Baart: This Stays Here
Okoboji
David Thoreson: Northwest Passages
Northern Iowa
St. Ansgar
Kurtis Meyer: Showing Up
Decorah
Hannah Breckbill: Humble Hands Harvest
Southern Iowa
Lovilia
Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt
Bussey
Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture
Ottumwa
Rachelle Chase: Reading with Rachelle
Central-West Iowa
Jefferson
Chad Elliott: Iowa’s Renaissance Man
Jefferson
Rick Morain
Yetter
Darcy Maulsby: Keepin’ It Rural
Boone County
Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business
Southwestern Iowa
Creston
Sarah Scull: The Piecemaker
Kathryn Severing Fox: Creston
South-Central Iowa
Earlham
Jason Walsmith: The Racontourist
Madison County
Debra Engle: A Whole New World
Winterset
Marianne Fons: Reporting From Quiltropolis
Vicki Minor: Relatively Minor
Vicki Minor: Narratives and Notes
Southeastern Iowa
Washington
Daniel Henderson: Things We Don’t Talk About, Like Religion
Marengo
Avery Gregurich: The Five and Dime
Kalona
Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land
Iowa at Large
Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin
Randy Evans: Stray Thoughts
Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck
Arnold Garson: Second Thoughts
Nik Heftman: The Seven Times
Rick Jost: Biz Whispers: Fresh Iowa Business News and Commentary
Iowa Capital Dispatch
Black Iowa News: Dana James
Letters From Iowans
Hola Iowa
Diana Wright: Startup Iowa’s Hot List
Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger
Out of State with an Iowa Connection
Romen Borsellino: Hollywood, CA
District of Columbia
Peter Hedges: New York, NY
Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politics Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.
Michigan
Phoebe Wall Howard: Shifting Gears, Detroit, MI
Massachusetts
Chris Gloninger: Weathering Climate Change, MA
Florida
Stacey Walker: Dispatch Revolution, FL
NOTE: I lifted the following invite to the IWC get-together for paid subscribers later this month from the fabulous Julie Gammack’s recent post …
Party, Meet Our Community of Writers
We are throwing a shindig in Winterset on July 26, and our paid subscribers (to any member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative or this roundup) are invited. For details, click on this RSVP form:
Saturday, July 26
3 to 5 pm: private screening of "Storm Lake" documentary film at the Iowa Theater, free to IWC writers and all PAID subscribers, followed by Q&A with guest of honor Art Cullen, moderated by Julie Gammack. Free popcorn, paid concessions. (Non-paid subscribers and public members can attend for $20.)
5:30 to 7 pm: Robust appetizers with a cash bar will be served at The Winterset Livery (an event space once a horse livery, just off the square), which is open free to paid subscribers. Non-paid subscribers who paid to attend the movie are also welcome to attend the after-party.
Come! We have a terrific community and want you all to meet one another!