A book launch that didn't happen due to Covid, but one of these days...
Back in the spring of 2020, when client Linda Paige Shelby was about to launch a book about her famous dad, all the Major League Baseball schedules said “Postponed, TBD.”
And now that the stadiums are full of fans again, Shelby is busy trying to restore her family home, the Satchel Paige home in Kansas City, as a museum. When all that falls into place, she'll be offering her book, Satchel Paige at the State Fair, to the public again.
Linda Paige Shelby teamed up with her daughter, teacher and illustrator China Smith, to polish a sweet story about one of the most famous baseball legends of all time: Satchel Paige. Satchel Paige at the State Fair depicts one of Linda Shelby's best memories of her father–the day he took the family to the Missouri State Fair.
With lavish illustrations by his granddaughter China, this children's book will delight adults as well. The first black pitcher in the American League, Paige played for the Cleveland Indians after spending most of his career in the Negro Leagues. He was the first Negro League player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (on July 28, 2006,) and the oldest rookie in all of Major League Baseball. Despite his legendary skills on the mound, Satchel Paige was, first and foremost, a family man.
The day that Paige took his family to the state fair in Sedalia, Missouri had been a long time coming. He usually traveled during the summer, so that day really resonates in daughter Linda's memories. She takes readers with her on that day, beginning with her mother's preparations for taking a picnic lunch for the trip, complete with crispy fried chicken, potato salad and her Dad's iced-down lemonade. In the family station wagon, the children told “knock-knock” jokes and anticipated all the mouth-watering treats at the fair, from corn dogs to cotton candy. But the highlight of the trip and of this book unfolded in front of the girls as their dad played one of the Midway games, the stacked milk bottle game.
The unsuspecting booth operator had no idea who this black man was that kept knocking down every one of the weighted and rigged milk bottles. The rest of the priceless story is best left for readers to discover for themselves.
Linda Paige Shelby has dedicated most of her spare time the last several years to preserving her father's legacy as a ball player and family man. Her careful preservation efforts include a contract with a licensing agency, attempts to preserve and restore her family home in Kansas City and now, this first book that she hopes will inspire children to follow their own dreams of greatness. Shelby also plans to write a second book detailing how her father taught her and her sisters to compete in a popular sport at the time—a turkey shoot.
Satchel Paige at the State Fair is currently available in hardcover and through Amazon.com and by request at area bookstores. For more information, contact the publisher, Personal Chapters LLC, personalchapters@gmail.com.