Ted Reinstein - Before Brooklyn: The Unsung Heroes Who Helped Break Baseball’s Color Barrier

GEORGE RODRIQUE

Ted Reinstein has been a reporter for Bostons ABC affiliate, WCVBTV, since 1997. His work for ChronicleAmericas longest-running locally produced nightly newsmagazinehas won multiple broadcast journalism awards. In addition, he is a regular contributor to the stations political roundtable show, and sits on the stations editorial board. He is the author of New England Notebook: One Reporter, Six States, Uncommon Stories (Globe Pequot, 2013) and Wicked Pissed: New Englands Most Famous Feuds (Globe Pequot, 2016), and coauthor (with Anne-Marie Dorning) of New Englands General Stores: Exploring an American Classic (Globe Pequot, 2017). He lives just west of Boston with his wife and two daughters.

WHILE THIS IS MY FOURTH BOOK, ITS THE FIRST IVE EVER WRITTEN almost entirely during a global pandemic. (God willing, that wont be repeated, either.) At Rowman & Littlefield/Lyons Press, thank you, Rick Rinehart, for your steadfast communication and positive outlook during a time when neither was easy to summon. Thanks very much as well to senior production editor Meredith Dias and to copy editor Joshua Rosenberg.

In writing about a time period from which very few persons are still alive, I am very thankful for those whom I was able to speak with directly. Thank you to Jerome Rappaport for his fond memories of his friend, Isadore Muchnick, and to Izzys son, David. I was able to have one phone conversation with David. Sadly, we were in the process of planning to meet in New York to talk further, when David died in the summer of 2019. Thank you, also, to Paul Linet, for having been good enough to make my introduction to David. With introductions in mind, thank you so much to my colleague Karen Holmes-Ward, whose many and varied friendships and professional connections proved invaluably helpful to me. Thanks, Larry DiCara, whose memory of all things political in Bostons history is as expansive as his warmth and good humor.

I am very grateful to the families of both Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson, and in particular to Pamela Paige, and to Sean Gibson for sharing their family memories.

Memory is also the primary mission of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City; thanks very much to the museums vice president and curator, Dr. Raymond Doswell, for his time over several conversationsand for his unfailing patience over many more follow-up questions.

In talking with Otis Gates III, my fascination with the history of the Pullman Porters found a wise and personal connection; thank you, Otis. Thank you to Donna Halper, whose tireless speaking and writing about otherwise little-known great female journalists, especially those of color, has helped keep their memories alive for succeeding generations. Thanks also to Professor Rob Ruck at the University of Pittsburgh, to baseball historians Glenn Stout and Richard Johnson, and to journalist and author Howard Bryant.

A huge thanks to some of the dear and many friends of Mabray Doc Kountze in West Medford, Massachusetts. I am very grateful to Adele Travisano, Jay Hurd, and Terry E. Carter, who gave me their time, their insights, and who all still miss Doc very much.

Above all, thank you to my familyAnne-Marie, Kyra, and Daisy. I cant adequately express how grateful I continue to be for allowing me to do what I do. Thank you above all.

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