Originally published in the Bronx Banter blog in 2003, this interview with Alex Belth was recently added to The Stacks Reader.
Alex: Did you always want to be a sportswriter?
Jane: I wanted to be a sportswriter because I wanted to be a writer, and a teacher once told me, “Write what you know.†What I knew, and still know, is the Yankees batting order and all the pertinent stats. This is why A.B. Berkowitz is a Yankees fan. That part of Squeeze Play is thoroughly and completely autobiographical. It is a love story about a girl and the national pastime. So sportswriting was a natural career choice for me, particularly baseball.
Also, don’t forget: I came up in the pre-Title IX era, when girls who liked to play ball were still tomboys; at puberty, we were consigned to observe. A writer is nothing if not an observer.
Catch the full interview at thestacksreader.com