The author of "Boys in the Boat"' Daniel James Brown, gave a talk tonight at Marist College in Poughkeepsie,NY. I attended the event with my wife Deb and we enjoyed listening to Mr. Brown share his tale of what inspired him to write the book. Poughkeepsie was where the Collegiate Regatta was held during the 1930's and where the team in the book won the collegiate championship before going to the Olympics.
The idea for the book came out of a homeowner association meeting. Mr. Brown talked to another member whose father wanted to meet him. That person was the main character of the book and one whose story of the boat and the team is shared throughout the book. It was a very interesting and entertaining talk. Mr. Brown explained that between the research into a topic he knew nothing about, the interviews with team membets, family and coaches and the actual writing of the book, it took six years to write the book. He talked about the joy of doing this research and the bond felt between each team member. This was followed by a question and answer session and a book signing. He was gracious enough to not only sign my copy of Boys in the Boat, but also signed copies of his other two books my wife owns. It was a very nice evening with the author of one of the year's best books on sports.
