R.I.P. W.P. Kinsella

The author of Shoeless Joe (better known in Hollywood of course as Field of Dreams) has passed away :

http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/shoeless+author+kinsella+died/12199117/story.html

I hadn't realized that Kinsella was Canadian (not that that changes anything -- greetings to our Canadian colleagues) and that he was more well-known in Canada for his story-telling than his baseball telling. In any event, what are we all doing if not looking to build our own versions of a field of dreams here? Time to dip back into some baseball fiction...Why not "The Thrill of the Grass"? http://people.brandeis.edu/~klionsky/stories/Kinsella%20-%20The%20Thrill%20of%20the%20Grass.pdf

Bill

Thanks for posting Bill. Kinsella is my favorite baseball fiction writer. Roger Angell is my favorite non-fiction baseball writer and he turns 96 on Monday. They both capture the magic of the game and no book does it like Shoeless Joe. The book is so much better than the movie and the movie is pretty darn good. I like the book because it take a lot longer to develope and he has no idea why he's only building a home plate, third base, and left field. Nothing happens for a long time and Joe Jackson finally shows up in left field. And it takes a while before he builds the whole field. I know movies have time limitations but the book tells the story much more effectively. I also like the book because he kidnaps J. D. Salinger rather than some fictional sports writer.
My other Kinsella favorite is The Iowa Baseball Confederacy. It's very weird in some ways but it captures the magic of the game that we all love. I know he hasn't written anything in a long time but he will be missed. RIP Mr Kinsella. I hope to see walk out of the cornfield and onto that field of dreams.