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The subject of "The Rookie" a new film being released by Disney, this is the inspiring, true story of how Jim Morris became the major league's oldest rookie pitcher in 40 years and how long-buried dreams can return to redeem a life.
About the author
JIM MORRIS served three tours with Special Forces (The Green Berets) in Vietnam and was severely wounded during the second and third tours, leading to his retirement as a Major. He has maintained his interest in the Montagnards, the mountain peoples of Vietnam with whom he fought, and for many years has been a refugee and civil rights activist on their behalf.His Vietnam memoir War Story is deemed by many to be the pioneer of the genre and won the first Bernal Diaz Award for military writing, outperforming all other military non-fiction books of the preceding decade.Morris is author of the story on which the film Operation Dumbo Drop was based, was technical advisor for that film, and has written and produced numerous documentary television episodes about the Green Berets and the Vietnam War.He has written four non-fiction books and five novels and has edited more than 200 fiction and non-fiction books as an editor for Berkley and Dell, most on military and adventure themes. As a contributing editor for Soldier of Fortune magazine, he covered eight guerrilla wars during the early 1980s. His work has appeared in Esquire, the Saturday Evening Post, and many other venues, including anthologies and college English texts.His latest non-fiction work is The Dreaming Circus, a spiritual memoir of a combat veteran's reintegration into civilian life.He has appeared on MSNBC as commentator on Special Operations and wrote a column on and during the invasion of Iraq for the San Diego Reader.In addition to the Bernal Diaz Award, he has also received the University of Oklahoma Professional Writing Award-also known as the Oklahoma Writer of the Year-an honor he shares with Louis L'Amour and Tony Hillerman, and the Vietnam Veterans Foundation of the Arts "Silver Star for Television Production" for A&E's Vietnam: The Green Berets. His military awards are Bronze Star with "V" Device and three Oak Leaf Clusters (four awards, two for valor and two for meritorious service), Purple Heart with three Oak Leaf Clusters (four awards), Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Bronze Star, Air Medal, Master Parachutist Badge, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, and the Special Forces tab. He also has been awarded the parachute wings of the Republic of China, the Republic of Vietnam, and the Kingdom of Thailand.
Summary
He Played A Boy's Game. He Lived A Man's Life. As a lonely child, Jim Morris took one thing with him wherever his family moved-his ability to hit and throw a baseball. For Jim, the passion of becoming a major-league ballplayer was his anchor and inspiration...until injuries and life got in the way.
A decade after Jim walked away from the minors and began a life of fatherhood and mortgage payments, he made a promise to the hardscrabble high-school team he coached: If they could win their local championship, he would try out again for the big leagues. They did-and he did. Now, in this wondrous, heart-tugging book, Jim Morris tells the story of his remarkable life and his amazing journey to the Big Show at the age of thirty-five . . . and how he finally fulfilled his childhood dream.
