Big Hair and Plastic Grass

You Can Really HEAR The Hair!

Ever since (well, even before) Big Hair and Plastic Grass was published, people have asked me if there were any plans for an audiobook... and now, finally, I can answer that question in the affirmative! And read by the author, no less!

Thanks to Blackstone Publishing, an audiobook version of BH&PG — read by yours truly — will be released next week (June 25). It will be available via Audible, Audiobookstore, Google Play, Kobo and presumably any other audiobook outlet. And for those of you who still prefer physical media, there's a 10-CD set available, as well! 

So if you're looking for a little 1970s baseball history to take the edge off your daily commute, or you simply want to luxuriate in my dulcet tones for hours at a time, we've got just the thing for you. An enthusiastic tip o' the Monsanto Toupee to the good folks at Blackstone for making this happen, to their art department for totally nailing that "1979 Topps Baseball Cartoon" look, and to Tom Rowan at the Sound Lab Recording Studio in Greensboro, NC, who expertly guided me through the harder-than-it-sounds process of recording an audiobook.

 

Nancy Faust, Tommy John... and Me

I am incredibly thrilled to accept The Baseball Reliquary's invitation to deliver the Keynote Address for their 20th annual Shrine of the Eternals Induction Day, which will be held Sunday, July 22nd at the Pasadena Central Library. This year's inductees include legendary White Sox organist Nancy Faust and White Sox/Dodgers/Yankees/Angels pitcher Tommy John, both of whom will be in attendance.

The Baseball Reliquary is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history — so it should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me or has read my baseball books that I've a big fan of the organization and its mission for a long time. (I mean, their collections include Dock Ellis's infamous CURLERS, people!)

Previous inductees to the Reliquary's Shrine of the Eternals include such personal heroes as Dock Ellis, Dick Allen, Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, Bill "Spaceman" Lee, Luis Tiant and Jim "Mudcat" Grant, so it will be a huge honor for me to speak at this year's induction ceremonies, especially since Nancy Faust, Tommy John and fellow 2018 inductee Rusty Staub all played such formative roles in my early baseball fandom.

The induction (which is free and open to all) will be held almost three years to the day since Katie and I moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, and I can think of no better excuse to return to Southern California for a few days. If you love baseball and live in SoCal, please mark your calendars for this fantastic event!

 

Chicago Reading Alert!

This Saturday, March 4, my friend Joe Bonomo — one of my favorite writers — and I will be doing a reading at The Book Cellar in Chicago's Lincoln Square. Joe's got an excellent new book of essays out called Field Recordings From The Inside, which he'll be reading from; I'll be reading from a new work in progress — a chapter from what I hope will be my next book project. Unlike Big Hair and Plastic Grass and Stars and Strikes (both of which will be available for purchase at the Book Cellar), this one will be more personal, as well as more music-oriented... and the chapter I'll be reading from involves the elegant gentleman pictured above.

Two great writers + one great independent bookstore (where you can also buy wine and beer by the glass, btw) = a swell time. The event starts at 6 p.m., and the Book Cellar is located at 4736 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. For more info, call the store at 773-293-2665. Hope to see some of youse there!

Also, as long as I've got your attention, here's a few of my favorite pieces from the last couple of months...

From Rolling Stone: Why Slap Shot is the Greatest Sports Movie of the 1970s.

From Guitar Aficionado: My interview with the great Ricky Gervais about music, guitars, and his new Netflix film, David Brent: Life on the Road.

From October: The Soul Battles of 70s Macrobrew.

And from The Hardball Times (you didn't think I could stay away from baseball forever, did you?): The World Series of Love - The Rolling Stones at Shea Stadium.

And finally, I'm still very much in the market for a full-time editorial or digital content job. If you're reading this and know of any available position in Chicago that requires a great editor, writer or content manager, please give me a shout...

Rock on,

Dan

 

 

 

Big Hair Blow-Out!!!

So, baseball fans, here's the deal:

My wife and I will be moving to Chicago at the end of July. While sorting through the stuff in our storage space in advance of the move, I discovered that I still have two big boxes full of first edition hardcover copies of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging 70s.

I really don't want to have to schlep these boxes to Chicago, and I could really use a few extra bucks to put towards this exciting (but also stressful and rather expensive) transition. Therefore, I've decided to blow these copies out at a mere $20 a pop, shipping included — and yes, I will happily autograph each copy you purchase to you, your friends or your family members. (Father's Day is comin' right up, folks!)

Just make your purchase using the PayPal button below, tell me how many copies you'd like, and what your favorite teams or players from the 1970s were (or those of your gift recipient, whose name you should also include in the message section of the order form). And I will do the rest!

Yes, that's right — you too can own an autographed first edition of my flashback to baseball's coolest, wildest and weirdest decade, a book that received an A- grade from the The A.V. Club, which described it as "enormously entertaining". Lose yourself in the polyester-clad antics of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych, Dave "The Cobra" Parker and a whole lotta other swingin' dudes with great nicknames and even more impressive hair. And it can be yours for only twenty bucks, shipping included! (All told, that's thirty-three percent less than I was previously asking for autographed copies of BH&PG! Such a bargain!)

This offer is good til the end of June, or until those boxes run out. (Wish I could offer you something similar with Stars and Strikes, but I'm all sold out of that one.) Also, please note that this deal only applies within the US; if you're in another country and would like to purchase a copy, please contact me through the email link on this blog, and we'll figure out what the shipping cost will be. As always, I am profoundly appreciative of your support, your help, and your good vibes. Please spread the word, above all — KEEP IT FUNKY.

Peace, Love and Soul,

Dan

UPDATE: All of the books have been sold. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

Doin' The Do In Burbank

This is Jim "Mudcat" Grant, 21-game winner for the 1965 AL champion Minnesota Twins, and a man who once sported what were perhaps the greatest pair of muttonchops ever seen on a major league diamond. I had the distinct pleasure of meeting and chatting with Mr. Grant during a 2002 event at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, and will never forget the riotously off-color stories he told me about his old roommate Vic Power. So it pretty much goes without saying that I'm extremely stoked and honored to be appearing with him this October 7 on a panel presented by The Baseball Reliquary as part of their "Baseball in the Swinging '70s" exhibit at the Burbank Central Library, located at 110 N. Glenoaks Blvd in scenic downtown Burbank.

The exhibit, which runs from now til October 30, takes a look at baseball's most colorful, contentious and tumultuous decade through photographs, artwork, and such sacred 70s artifacts as Dock Ellis's hair curlers, (which Dock himself donated to the Reliquary) and charred 45s from Comiskey Park's "Disco Demolition Night". Much of the exhibit's written content has been excerpted from my book Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s. If you live in Southern California and love 70s baseball, you won't want to miss this!

You also won't want to miss the October 7 panel, which will also include Jeffrey Radice, director of the acclaimed new Dock Ellis documentary No No: A Dockumentary, which is now playing in theaters around the country and is also available via iTunes, Amazon Instant, Vudu and On Demand via select cable providers. Dock will understandably be one of the main topics of conversation — Mudcat was his teammate on the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates — but we will be hitting plenty of other 70s baseball topics, as well. The panel will start at 7 p.m. and run for an hour, and I will be signing copies of Big Hair and my new Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76 (both of which will be available for purchase thanks to the fine folks at Skylight Books) afterwards. Hope you can make the scene!

Both the exhibition and the panel are FREE and open to the public. For more info, call the Burbank Central Library at 818-238-5600.

 

New Year, New Book, New Ways To Waste Your Time Online

Happy New Year, 70s baseball fans!

Last week, while manfully fending off this damn cold/virus thing that's going around, I put the finishing touches on the final edit of Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of '76, my long-awaited follow-up to Big Hair and Plastic Grass. The book won't be out until April 29, but Amazon already has an advance order link up for it, as does Barnes & Noble.

In honor of the forthcoming book, I've started a new Facebook page; while the Big Hair FB page will keep cookin', I figured that it (and what people expect from it) has become too calcified over the last few years for me to seriously change things up and go "all 1976"; the new page will also feature much more in the way of pop culture-related pics and links than I usually post on Big Hair. Along those lines, just for kicks, I've also waded into the world of Tumblr with the Bicentennial Boogie page, which will be devoted strictly to 1976-related images, baseball and otherwise.

(And speaking of images, how 'bout a round of applause for the design folks at St. Martin's? They set the bar pretty high with the cover of Big Hair and Plastic Grass, but I dare say the cover they concocted for Stars and Strikes is right up there with it!)

As of this point, I'm just starting to get my plans together for the Stars and Strikes "book tour" — offhand, it's looking like a few reading/signing events in SoCal during May (more on that in a second), a visit to the East Coast (Philly, NYC, Boston, maybe one more city) in late June/early July, and a trip to the Midwest (Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit) in late July/early August, though I'm certainly game to go elsewhere if more opportunities present themselves. (If you would like me to come and speak about baseball and the 1970s at your organization's dinner, luncheon or other gathering, and can foot the bill to get me there, please drop me a line via this website.)

Right now, the only Stars and Strikes event that's currently set in stone is a reading/signing on May 3 at the Allendale Branch Library in Pasadena, CA. The program, which is co-sponsored by those fine folks at The Baseball Reliquary, will begin at 2 pm; the library is located at 1130 S. Marengo Ave., Pasadena, 91106. For more information, please see the Facebook invite that the library has posted for the event. Hope to see some of you LA-area folks there!

Finally, folks have been asking if I still have signed 1st edition hardcovers of Big Hair and Plastic Grass available for sale. I do indeed! Just shoot me $30 ($25 plus $5 shipping in the US; contact me for international shipping rates) via the PayPal link below, and I will happily hit you with your very own personalized copy.

Thanks as always to everyone who has helped support and encourage my funky forays into baseball's past. May you all have a peaceful, healthy, love-filled and totally righteous 2014!

 

Favorite team or player

Last Call For Christmas Baseball!

Hear those sleigh bells jingling, 70s baseball fans? That's the sound of the Christmas holiday making its rapid approach. Why, even Dave "The Cobra" Parker is getting into the spirit!

If you're looking for a unique gift for that baseball nut on your list, I can help. During a recent clean-out of my basement, I discovered several unopened boxes of first-edition hardcover copies of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s. And it would be a stone groove for me to hook you or your loved one up with a personalized autographed copy.

Want one? Just send me $25 (plus $5 shipping) via the PayPal link at the bottom of this post, and I will wing you an autographed first edition of BH&PG forthwith. I'll sign it to you, your spouse, your relative, your pal, your boss, anyone you want — just be sure to let me know if the name of the signee is different than the one on your mailing address. If you want me to personalize it further, just put the name of your giftee's favorite 70s player or team in the box below, and I'll wittily incorporate them into the inscription.

Time is running out, however — so to make sure your signed copy arrives in time for Christmas, please place your order by this coming Sunday, December 15. Thanks again for all your support, and have yerselves a funky little Christmas and a totally righteous New Year!

 

Favorite team or player

Stuff Those Stockings With 70s Baseball!

Yeah, I know, it's only mid-November... but Christmas will be here before you know it (Hanukkah even more so), and it's never too early to start thinking about your holiday shopping, right?

If you're looking for a unique gift for that baseball nut on your list, I can help. During a recent clean-out of my basement, I discovered several unopened boxes of first-edition hardcover copies of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s. And it would be a stone groove to hook you or your loved one up with a personalized autographed copy.

Want one? Just send me $25 (plus $5 shipping) via the PayPal link at the bottom of this post, and I will wing you an autographed first edition of BH&PG forthwith. I'll sign it to you, your spouse, your relative, your pal, anyone you want — and if you want me to personalize it further, just put the name of your giftee's favorite 70s player or team in the box below, and I'll wittily incorporate them into the inscription.

As Oscar Gamble himself would tell you, it doesn't matter if you've been good, bad or superbaaad — everyone deserves a little blast from baseball's funky past. Order yours today!

Favorite team or player

Autographed Copies — Get 'Em While They're Hot (and Funky)!

Many of you fine folks have asked me, "Hey, Dan — I want a signed copy of Big Hair and Plastic Grass. How can I get one?" Well, since I've a) recently discovered a box full of first edition hardcovers in my office, and b) just figured out how to put a PayPal button on this page, I now have an answer for you!

Just send me $25 (plus $5 shipping) via PayPal, and I will wing you an autographed first edition of BH&PG forthwith. I'll sign it to you, your Dad, your best friend, anyone you want — and if you want me to personalize it further, just put the name of your favorite 70s player or team in the box below, and I'll wittily incorporate them into your inscription.

A critically acclaimed book on the national pastime's funkiest era, signed and personalized by the guy Cardboard Gods author Josh Wilker calls "the Bangsian Herodotus of '70s Baseball"? Get yerself one NOW, baby, while supplies last!

Favorite team or player

Sausalito (Is The Place To Go)

Bay Area baseball fans! On May 24, a week from tonight, I will be doing a special reading/presentation at the Sausalito Public Library, and I'd love you all to make like San Francisco Giants great Willie McCovey in a Cadillac and groove on over to join me.

(Okay, the above pic of "Stretch" was most likely taken somewhere in Florida, but damn — that white loafer/silver Caddy combo may be the greatest thing I've ever seen!)

Anyway, here are the official details:

Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair & Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging 70s (Thomas Dunne/St. Martin's Press) will be doing a reading at the Sausalito Public Library on the evening of Friday, May 24, as part of a speaker series sponsored by the Friends of the Library.

Dan will read passages from Big Hair, as well as selections from his forthcoming book, tentatively titled Bicentennial Boogie: Baseball and America in the Star-Spangled Summer of '76. A Q&A discussion about the sheer awesomeness of 1970s baseball (and a slideshow of some of the best ballplayer hair of the 70s) will follow. Copies of the book will be available for purchase.

The Sausalito Public Library is located inside the Sausalito Civic Center (aka "Civic Center") at 420 Litho Street in Sausalito. The event is FREE, as is parking in the City Hall Lot. The reading will begin at 7:30 pm. Call the Library at 415-289-4121 for more info, or check their website: http://www.ci.sausalito.ca.us/Index.aspx?page=992

Hope ta see ya there!