"I once interviewed a woman shot in the head by hijackers and left for dead on the tarmac.
I raced my bike against Greg LeMond in South Africa (and beat him). I played a tennis match against the world’s top-ranked wheelchair tennis player (and lost). I channeled a 330-pound, Samoan, retired NFL nose tackle who is gay (Esera Tuaolo, for his memoir). I played softball on snowshoes in the summertime (wood chips spread across the infield). I rapped a base hit off former Twins pitcher Rick Aguilera.
I listened to a nurse tell me the story of prying a shotgun shell out of Ernest Hemingway’s hand when he was intent upon killing himself. I profiled a woman who is a Roman Catholic priest. I attended a powwow with LGBTQ Native Americans. I interviewed a mortician in the room where she embalmed my father. I interviewed a 15-year-old boy in his hospital room after he tried to stop a school shooter.
All in a few days' work, stretching back to 1981, when I began freelancing as a senior in high school, same time I got clean and sober. My work has won a couple dozen awards and been nominated for a National Magazine Award and a Pulitzer Prize (but didn't win either of those).
Along the way, I have lived in Boise, Boston, Florence, London, Paris, and St. Paul. Today I'm at home in my native Minneapolis with my wife Maria, our two children, and a golden retriever named Maya. - John Rosengren
John Rosengren is a frequent sportswriter including authoring one of Joe's favorite books "Blades of Glory: The True Story Of A Young Team Bred To Win" about High School Hockey in Minnesota (think Friday Night Lights, but with Hockey).
John is on the show today to discuss writing Blades of Glory, his current book "A Clean Heart", and the effect sports can have on our kids.
Enjoy!
#JohnRosengren
#beabetterdad
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