A Booklist Top 10 Sports & Recreation Book Finalist for the 2022 CASEY Award Born and raised in rural Mississippi and the even balmier climes of central Florida, Red Barber, at the age of thirty-two, became one of New York City's most influential citizens as the play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When he arrived in 1939, Barber brought the down-home drawl and idioms of his southern roots to the borough, where residents said they could walk down any street and never miss a pitch because his voice wafted out of every window and every passing car. From his colorful expressions like "rhubarb" and "sitting in the catbird seat" to his vivid use of similes-a close game was "tighter than a new pair of shoes on a rainy day"-Barber's influence on his contemporaries and the many generations of broadcasters who followed him cannot be overstated. But behind all the base hits, balls, and strikes lies a compelling story that dramatizes the shifting expectations and roles of a public figure-the sports broadcaster-as he adapted to complex cultural changes throughout the course of twentieth-century American life. Red Barber follows the trajectory of Barber's long career from radio and television play-by-play man for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Yankees to his work calling college and professional football games, his nine-year tenure as director of sports for CBS Radio, and his second acts as an Episcopal lay reader, sportswriter, and weekly guest with Bob Edwards on NPR's Morning Edition. This talented public figure was also a private man committed to rigorous self-examination and willing to evolve and grow under the influence of changing times. When the Dodgers first signed Jackie Robinson and smashed the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Barber struggled to overcome the racism he had absorbed from his culture as a child. But after observing the vicious abuse Robinson endured from opposing fans, Barber became an ardent supporter of him and the many Black players who followed. Barber was also bothered deeply by the strains that his single-minded careerism imposed on his family. He was challenged to navigate longtime family tensions after his only child, Sarah, came out as a lesbian. And his primary role during the later years of his life was caretaking for his wife, Lylah, during her decline from Alzheimer's disease, at a time when the ailment was something many families concealed. Ultimately Red Barber traces the career of a true radio and television pioneer who was committed to the civic responsibility of mass media. Barber firmly believed the most important role of a broadcaster was telling the truth and promoting public well-being.

The crack of the bat on the radio is ingrained in the American mind as baseball takes center stage each summer. Radio has brought the sounds of baseball into homes for almost one hundred years, helping baseball emerge from the 1919 Black Sox scandal into the glorious World Series of the 1920s. The medium gave fans around the country aural access to the first All-Star Game, Lou Gehrig's farewell speech, and Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Red Barber, Vin Scully, Harry Caray, Ernie Harwell, Bob Uecker, and dozens of other beloved announcers helped cement the love affair between radio and the national pastime. Crack of the Bat takes readers from the 1920s to the present, examining the role of baseball in the development of the radio industry and the complex coevolution of their relationship. James R. Walker provides a balanced, nuanced, and carefully documented look at radio and baseball over the past century, focusing on the interaction between team owners, local and national media, and government and business interests, with extensive coverage of the television and Internet ages, when baseball on the radio had to make critical adjustments to stay viable. Despite cable television's ubiquity, live video streaming, and social media, radio remains an important medium through which fans engage with their teams. The evolving relationship between baseball and radio intersects with topics as varied as the twenty-year battle among owners to control radio, the development of sports as a valuable media product, and the impact of competing technologies on the broadcast medium. Amid these changes, the familiar sounds of the ball hitting the glove and the satisfying crack of the bat stay the same.

James R. Walker was a physician to the Pine Ridge Sioux from 1896 to 1914. His accounts of this time, taken from his personal papers, reveal much about Lakota life and culture. This third volume of previously unpublished material from the Walker collection presents his work on Lakota myth and legend. This edition includes classic examples of Lakota oral literature, narratives that were known only to a few Oglala holy men, and Walker's own literary cycle based on all he had learned about Lakota myth. "Lakota Myth" is an indispensable source for students of comparative literature, religion, and mythology, as well as those interested in Lakota culture.

This volume is the first of four that will present the best and most important portions of the hundreds of pages of notes, interviews, texts, and essays that James R. Walker amassed during his eighteen years at Pine Ridge Reservation.

In "Baseball Weekly"'s list of things that most affected baseball in the twentieth century, television ranked second--behind only the signing of Jackie Robinson. The new medium of television exposed baseball to a genuinely national audience; altered the financial picture for teams, owners, and players; and changed the way Americans followed the game. "Center Field Shot" explores these changes--all even more prominent in the first few years of the twenty-first century--and makes sense of their meaning for America's pastime. "" "Center Field Shot" traces a sometimes contentious but mutually beneficial relationship from the first televised game in 1939 to the new era of Internet broadcasts, satellite radio, and high-definition TV, considered from the perspective of businessmen collecting merchandising fees and advertising rights, franchise owners with ever more money to spend on talent, and broadcasters trying to present a game long considered "unfriendly" to television. Ultimately the association of baseball with television emerges as a reflection of--perhaps even a central feature of--American culture at large.

Remote control tuning encourages a form of interactive television using a technology already available in 80 percent of American households. Editors Walker and Bellamy have compiled the first book of state-of-the-art research on a topic of growing interest to media researchers, practitioners, and students. Chapter authors combine survey measurements with recorded observations of viewing behavior, an analysis of the program sources accessed during "grazing," experimental studies of remote control use, and historical and critical analyses. Specific topics include: the history of the remote control device, gender differences in its use, family communication and parental control of the device, remote controls and selective exposure to media messages, the impact of remote controls on programming and promotion, remote controls and critical perspective on television, and future technologies. This volume is rooted in social scientific research, but theoretically and methodologically broad in scope.

As agency physician on the Pine Ridge Reservation from 1896 to 1914, Dr. James R. Walker recorded a wealth of information on the traditional lifeways of the Oglala Sioux. "Lakota Society" presents the primary accounts of Walker's informants and his syntheses dealing with the organization of camps and bands, kinship systems, beliefs, ceremonies, hunting, warfare, and methods of measuring time.