Gary M. Pomerantz

THE LAST PASS, by Gary Pomerantz, is at it's core about Bob Cousy. The book looks at the Celtics and their winning dynasty in the 1950's and 1960's and it's unique and polarizing leader, Arnold "Red" Auerbach. It looks at Bill Russell, the amazing athlete and passionate advocate for equality in the NBA and the turbulent sentiments of the country during that same time. But it all comes back to Cousy, who is the through line of it all. He is one of the most revered NBA players ever; one of the show more first real greats of the game, and yet he still struggles with how he could have been a better teammate, better NBA personality, and better moral leader in the emotionally charged 1950's and 1960's.
Pomerantz clearly has an affinity for Bob Cousy, but does an admirable job of looking at both sides of him, mostly by how different people (teammates, journalists, etc) perceived him. Some revered him, some found him aloof and self-centered, but few could say he was anything less than a talented and one-of-a-kind player. Pomerantz goes deeper, interviewing Cousy and challenging him to talk about things he doesn't want to talk about, like his relationship with Russell and how he was perceived in the public eye. Pomerantz also weighs heavily how race equality and the nation's shifting view of that racial equality affected the NBA, the Celtics, and each of the players. The story of the Celtics is so much more than Cousy and the book recounts how the team came together, grew, and thrived year after year. The stories Pomerantz has collected are wonderfully fascinating and quite informative at the same time. He involves so many of the major components (players, coaches, executives, journalists) of those championship teams and how each of them were part of the greatness, giving as balanced of a look at that time as possible.
As an avid sports history reader, THE LAST PASS is among the best I have ever read. The novel tells the story of a special man, chronicles one of the greatest sports dynasties, and touches the reader with the humanity of the game, the people, and the special time in our country when this all was taking place.
Thank you to Penguin Press, Gary Pomerantz, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! show less

Interesting but ultimately trivial. Two main strands, both from the 1930s: the story of a woman who shot her husband over a bridge game, and the story of Ely and Jo Culbertson, a married couple who apparently revolutionized contract bridge. The murder strand was actually the less tragic of the two. All in all, reminded me forcefully of why I don't play card games that require partners. (Although as a child I used to watch my parents play a partnership game--not bridge, something else--with show more my mother's cousin and her husband. People don't seem to do that anymore. When we see our friends we mostly drink wine and gossip about the school and the synagogue.) show less

I was in junior high during the early glory days of the 70's Pittsburgh Steelers and I remember their dominance of the game during that time. I'm not a big football fan, but I remember the names Terry Bradshaw, Joe Greene, LC Greenwood, Lynn Swann and Franco Harris. And I enjoy a good yarn - at that same age I usually read the long pieces in Sports Illustrated for the human interest theme, not for the technical aspects of the game. I'm pretty sure I skipped paragraphs. I was intrigued by the show more story of these men who came together and became more than the sum of their parts.

Gary Pomerantz tells an engaging story about not just the players, but the Rooney family as well. It was the story of a business that was always changing (owning the football team) in a growing market (the NFL) which was being changed by various forces (the rise of the players' union, the influx of cash from television, the physical toll the game takes on the players). What they accomplished was incredible, but the costs were also incredible.

He concludes the tale by recounting how they've spent their retirement years, including the impact the game had on them physically and mentally. Predictably some have fared better than others. The recent discoveries of the impact of playing football on the brain really chills my enjoyment of the game. It was bad enough to sacrifice joints and backs to the gridiron, but to also lose their mental faculties as well - resulting not only in their own early demise, but also destroying families because of behavioral changes, seems to me a price far in excess of the benefits of the sport. show less

This is not just a book about an airplane crash. It is a story about humanity in the face of adversity -- indeed, sheer terror.

On August 21, 1995, ASA flight 529, a commuter plane with a total of 29 people aboard, experienced catastrophic engine failure, due to a broken propeller blade, after takeoff from Atlanta. (Not only was the engine useless, its displacement and disfigurement destroyed the aerodynamic properties of the airplane's left wing, rendering the plane almost impossible to show more handle.) Nine minutes, twenty seconds later, ASA 529 crashed into a Georgia hayfield. This book is the story of those precious minutes, as well as the circumstances leading up to them and the aftermath of the crash. More importantly, it is the story of the people involved, and how their lives were changed in an instant.

I found this book difficult to put down, even in the midst of a very hectic week in my life. Author Pomerantz introduced me to the people on and connected to this plane, and made me actually care about these total strangers. (I was tearful as I read of the eventual deaths of passengers who initially survived the crash.)

Pomerantz also dscribed, clearly and understandably, the technical issues involved in the airplane's crash. He begins the book by introducing us to the technician who -- following to the letter the (flawed) company procedures he'd been taught, and using to the best of his ability the (inadequate) equipment provided by his employer --inspected and serviced the fatal propeller blade over a year prior to its ultimate failure.

The crash and the moments immediately preceding and following are described in vivid detail. Later, we watch the crash investigation process. We glimpse the terrible suffering of burn recovery; we witness survivor guilt as it drains the spirit of many who made it out alive. We are also introduced to the seamier side of air disasters -- shameless attempts by insurers to limit their liability, and shady tactics by lawyers to snare clients from among the crash survivors and the victims' families. (About a year after this crash, legislation was passed to limit unsolicited contact with aircrash vicitms/families by lawyers for either side.) We also see how, despite the pain, some people manage to take full advantage of a "second chance" at life.

I found this book to be a riveting look at the "big picture" of what's involved in a plane crash. show less