Home and Away: Memoir of a Fan

The same zest for life and disarming wit that have made Simon an award-winning host for National Public Radio serve him well in these recollections of a life intertwined with sports. A native of Chicago who relishes the city's reputation for down-to-earth grittiness, Simon is also a proud iconoclast: ""I voted for John Anderson; I thought he would win. I actually liked the New Coke."" His talent at telling a good story and his writing skills allow him to roam seamlessly between his own postwar coming of age--including his father's alcoholism, his parents' divorce and his own rise as a journalist--and the sports teams he roots for, most notably Chicago's beloved football and baseball teams, the Bears and the Cubs. Simon has always been immersed in the sports world: as a young boy, he called himself Billy after Billy Pierce, a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox. He has also enjoyed remarkable access to sports figures; his father, a comedian, was friends with Chicago baseball announcer Jack Brickhouse. Simon describes his interactions with some of Chicago's sports luminaries, such as Cubs' Hall of Famer Ernie Banks and the Bulls' Michael Jordan, as well as his encounters with world events--he interviewed Fidel Castro and covered the Balkan wars. If some readers wonder why a tender man who values his relationships with his father and stepfather doesn't delve into his present family life, that's only a small missing piece in an eloquent, compassionate book. 6-city author tour. (May)