Millions of people bowl yet few know much about bowling's rich history. For more than 25 years, J.R. "Dr. Jake" Schmidt has been recounting that history in Bowlers Journal International with vitality and detail. This collection of 90 of his classic articles presents portraits of Dick Weber, Don Carter, Marion Ladewig and other tenpin immortals. Great matches and tournaments are recalled, along with little-known and forgotten stories--the bowling ball that went around the world, the 300 game that took a week to complete, the symphony concert that featured a bowler rolling against pins on stage, the traveling hustler who passed himself off as a German nobleman, the baseball Hall of Famer who won a national bowling championship, and much more.

Millions of people bowl yet few know much about bowling's rich history. For more than 25 years, J.R. "Dr. Jake" Schmidt has been recounting that history in Bowlers Journal International with vitality and detail. This collection of 90 of his classic articles presents portraits of Dick Weber, Don Carter, Marion Ladewig and other tenpin immortals. Great matches and tournaments are recalled, along with little-known and forgotten stories--the bowling ball that went around the world, the 300 game that took a week to complete, the symphony concert that featured a bowler rolling against pins on stage, the traveling hustler who passed himself off as a German nobleman, the baseball Hall of Famer who won a national bowling championship, and much more.

From The Honeymooners to The Big Lebowski, from The Flintstones to Ed, bowling has rolled right down the middle of American culture like no sport—or even pastime—in the nation’s postwar history. This entertaining, illustrated history illuminates the place that bowling holds in the heart of America, as well as its loftier antecedents and the high-kitsch status all things bowling have recently attained.

Born in Italy in 1891, Andy Varipapa immigrated to the United States in 1903, uneducated and unable to speak English. Equipped with little more than athletic ability, the will to succeed, and a healthy dose of self-confidence, he became bowling's first superstar. In the 1940s and 1950s, Varipapa was the world's most famous bowler. For more than 50 years, he dazzled fans with an array of never-before-seen trick shots in person, on movie screens, and on television. Varipapa was not only a performer but one of the greatest bowlers ever. He won the prestigious BPAA All-Star tournament in 1946, silencing critics who claimed he was just an entertainer. And he did so at age 55, long past most bowlers' retirement age. To prove it was no fluke, he repeated in 1947. Bowling fans recognized the outspoken and brash "Great Varipapa," who once said, "I'm the most skillful, talkative, and controversial bowler who ever lived." Few knew Andy, the kind and loyal family man and friend. Sourced from interviews with family and friends and more than 1,000 secondary sources, this first-ever biography of Varipapa tells the personal story of bowling's greatest showman and one of its most influential figures.

"Hold on to your tray tables, boys and girls!" This was the Saturday lunchtime rally cry from legendary Channel 5 sportscaster Don Gillis. Every week for nearly four decades, families slurped tomato soup and crunched on grilled cheese sandwiches while the world's best candlepin bowlers performed otherworldly feats for over 200,000 TV viewers. Candlepin Bowling, often the top-rated Boston sports show of the week, made names like Czernicki, Olszta, and Jutras as familiar as Bird, Yastrzemski and Orr. Mike Morin's new book, Lunch With Tommy and Stasia: TV's Golden Age of Candlepin Bowling, is the very first behind-the-scenes look at what made these pop-up stars tick. Morin watched hundreds of hours of classic TV matches and then sought out the bowlers to uncover what really happened on (and off) the lanes.As a TV co-host of nearly 300 candlepin bowling episodes in Boston and New Hampshire, Morin got to know the players personally. They didn't hold back as they shared their stories, many never heard before. Stories like:Mike Sargent wins a big-money purse match but instead gets paid with something he never expected.Tom Olszta's discarded, muddy bowling balls make a surprise appearance courtesy of Santa.Hollywood celebrities love candlepins. Just ask Eve "Jan Brady" Plumb, Will Ferrell, and Simpson's executive producer Matt Selman.The highs and lows are all laid out, accompanied by a photo gallery that will bring back memories of Saturday lunches with Tommy, Stasia, and hundreds of other candlepin bowling stars. Finally, their stories are told.

An impassioned lament for the home Bowling once knew and for the river and creatures that continue to haunt his imagination.

When eleven-year-old Gregor falls through a grate in the laundry room of his apartment building, he hurtles into the dark Underland, where spiders, rats and giant cockroaches coexist uneasily with humans. This world is on the brink of war, and Gregor's arrival is no accident. Gregor has a vital role to play in the Underland's uncertain future.