World War II. The Korean Conflict. Vietnam. For three long decades Americans came of age against a constant backdrop of war and conflict. In Woodfiber Dreams, James Stark presents thirteen tales from these turbulent decades—an era when war, fear, racism, and social expectations combined to rob a nation's youth of their childhood. Within these pages, you'll meet Davey, a ten-year-old boy equipped with a knife and trained dog, as he provides for his mother in his father's absence during the Korean War. You'll encounter Billy, a housing project kid grappling to reconcile his new found friendship with an African American boy with the bigotry of his WWII-veteran father. And you'll discover Johnny, main character of the titular "Woodfiber Dreams," a young man trying to take on his absent WWII veteran father's responsibilities as he humors his mother's latest get-rich-quick scheme. From the rowdy bars of an Alaskan fishing town to the lawlessness of hobo villages, the boys, girls, and youths of Stark's stories have little choice but to adapt as reality dismantles their hopes and expectations. This is the world of Woodfiber Dreams, in many respects, a past not so different from our present.
James Naismith invented the game of basketball as a physical education instructor at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. That December of 1891, his task was to create a game to occupy a rowdy class during the winter months. Almost instantly popular, the game spread across the country and was played in fifteen countries by the end of the century. And yet basketball never had an overriding presence in Naismith's life, as he was also a minister, doctor, educator, and coach. So what did Naismith think about the game of basketball? In The James Naismith Reader, Douglas Stark answers that question using articles, speeches, letters, notes, radio interview transcripts, and other correspondence, including discussions on the game's origins, Naismith's childhood game duck on a rock in Canada, the changing rules, basketball as a representation of Muscular Christianity, and the physical education movement. From Naismith's original rules written in 1891 to an excerpt from the posthumous publication of his book Basketball: Its Origin and Development, Naismith's writings range over a fifty-year period, showing his thoughts on the game's invention and as the game evolved during his lifetime. The first volume to compile the existing primary sources of Naismith's views on basketball, The James Naismith Reader reveals what its inventor thought of the game, as well as his interactions with educators and instructors who assisted the game's growth.
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