Audiobooks by Kevin Cook

Tommy's Honor: The Story of Old Tom Morris and Young Tom Morris, Golf's Founding Father and Son

Bringing to life golf's founding father and son, Tommy's Honor is a stirring tribute to two legendary players and a vivid evocation of their colorful, rip-roaring times. The Morrises were towering figures in their day. Old Tom began life as a nobody-he was the son of a weaver and a maid. But he was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, the cradle of golf, and the game was in his blood. He became the Champion Golfer of Scotland. As "Keeper of the Green" at the town's ancient links, Tom deployed golf's first lawnmower and banished sheep from the fairways. Then Young Tommy's career took off. Handsome Tommy Morris was a more daring player than his father. Soon he surpassed Old Tom and dominated the game. But just as he reached his peak Tommy's life took a tragic turn, leading to his death at the age of twenty-four. That shock is at the heart of Tommy's Honor. It left Tom to pick up the pieces-to honor his son by keeping Tommy's memory alive. Tommy's Honor is both fascinating history and a moving personal saga. But this book isn't only for golfers. It's for every son who has fought to escape a father's shadow and for every father who has guided a son toward manhood, then found it hard to let him go.

Kevin Cook (Author), James A. Gillies (Narrator)

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Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever

The 1947 World Series was "the most exciting ever" in the words of Joe DiMaggio, with a decade's worth of drama packed into seven games between the mighty New York Yankees and underdog Brooklyn Dodgers. It was Jackie Robinson's first Series, a postwar spectacle featuring Frank Sinatra, Ernest Hemingway, and President Harry Truman in supporting roles. It was also the first televised World Series-sportswriters called it "Electric October." But for all the star power on display, the outcome hinged on role players: Bill Bevens, a journeyman who knocked on the door of pitching immortality; Al Gionfriddo and Cookie Lavagetto, bench players at the center of the Series' iconic moments; Snuffy Stirnweiss, a wartime batting champion who never got any respect; and managers Bucky Harris and Burt Shotton, each an unlikely choice to run his team. Kevin Cook brings the '47 Series to life, introducing us to men whose past offered no hint they were destined for extraordinary things. For some, the Series was a memory to hold onto. For others, it would haunt them to the end of their days. And for us, Cook offers new insights-at once heartbreaking and uplifting-into what fame and glory truly mean.

Kevin Cook (Author), Joe Barrett (Narrator)

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Home Game: Three Generations of Big-League Stories from Baseball's First Family

From the first third-generation baseball player in Major League Baseball history, a sometimes moving, always candid look at his family's 70 years in the world of professional baseball.Bret Boone made history in 1992 as the first third-generation major leaguer in baseball history. A five-foot-ten firecracker who was spurned by scouts for his small size, supposed lack of power, and temper tantrums (one scout called him a "helmet-throwing terror"), Bret didn't care about family legacy; he wanted to make his own way. He did just that, building a 14-year career that included three all-star appearances, four Gold Gloves, a bout with alcoholism, and the ignominy of being traded for the infamous "player to be named later." Now that he's coaching minor leaguers half his age, and his 15-year-old son has the potential to be a fourth-generation major leaguer, Bret is ready to reflect on and tell the story of baseball from the perspective of his family's 70-year history in the sport.Combining the brashness and candor of Ball Four with a dollop of Big Russ and Me sentiment, this book will trace the evolution of the game-on the field and behind the scenes-from Ray Boone's era in the 1950s to Bret and Aaron's era in the 90s and 2000s, when players made millions, dined on lobster in the clubhouse, injected themselves with PEDs, and had their choice of "Annies"-female clingers-on, or as today's players call them, "road beef." Along the way, the book will touch on pieces of Boone family lore, including Bret hitting zero dingers in a home run derby and Aaron's home run (if you don't know what this is referring to, then consult the nearest Red Sox fan). Blending nostalgia, behind-the-scenes profanity, close analysis of the game that only players can offer, and insight into baseball's ongoing evolution as a sport and a business, Bret Boone will offer a one-of-a-kind look at America's favorite pastime from a family who has seen it all.

Bret Boone, Kevin Cook (Author), Bret Boone (Narrator)

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Flip: The Inside Story of TV's First Black Superstar

The rags-to-riches story of a groundbreaking, beloved entertainer When The Flip Wilson Show debuted in 1970, black faces were still rare on television, black hosts nonexistent. So how did Clerow "Flip" Wilson go from Jersey City grade-school dropout to national celebrity, heralded on the cover of Time as "TV's first black superstar"? Flip is a candid, entertaining biography of a consummate comedian who changed the face of American popular culture. Kevin Cook chronicles Flip's meteoric rise through the Chitlin' Circuit of segregated nightclubs to his breakthrough on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show to his hit variety show, on which he created such outrageous and hilarious characters as the sassy Geraldine and flock-fleecing Reverend Leroy. As one of the biggest stars of his time, he performed and partied with Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and other stars of the 1970s. Drawing on interviews with family, friends, and celebrities, Cook delivers the inspiring story of a complex man who broke the prime-time color barrier, blazing a trail for generations of African American performers who followed him. "Drawing on interviews with family, friends, and Wilson's colleagues, journalist Cook delivers a candid and entertaining look at Wilson's meteoric rise...Cook's fiercely honest biography captures the tumultuous and winning personality of the man who introduced many memorable characters to the world and who paved the way for black comedians such as Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Tyler Perry."-Publishers Weely

Kevin Cook (Author), Mirron Willis (Narrator)

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