Stefan Fatsis
Stefan
Fatsis was interviewed
for BookCast by Fairfax County Public Library Director Sam Clay.
Journalist Stefan Fatsis has written three books:
A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-foot-8, 170-pound, 43-year-old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL is the Plimptonian story of his summer as a training-camp placekicker for the Denver Broncos;
Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players chronicled the twisted subculture of the quintessentially American board game and the author’s descent into it;
Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America’s Heartland followed a troupe of anti-establishment baseball entrepreneurs and their nose-thumbing creation, the Northern League.
He has been a reporter and sportswriter for the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal. He is a regular sports commentator on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and has also appeared on CNBC, ESPN and other networks.
Reviews:
Los Angeles Times: “Plimpton’s true heir may well
be Stefan Fatsis . . . [He] is able to penetrate the players’ psyches
in a way that few sportswriters have.”
Sports Illustrated: “The best description
of the mental and emotional challenges of playing in the NFL
that I have seen in print,” former NFL player Ed Cunningham
in a letter to the magazine about Fatsis’ essay.