It started as a once-in-awhile thing. It has quickly become a weekly exercise.
Every Friday (or thereabouts), I give away a signed, personalized copy of Father of Mine.
This week, it’s one freebie. The winner will be picked randomly from those who send a email with this subject line -- Father of Mine May 19 giveaway -- to florio@profootballtalk.com.
No purchase is necessary. But it would be appreciated. The only requirements are: (1) send an email; and (2) include the accurate subject line.
The book, set in 1973, uses the mob that ran my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia as the backdrop. My dad was a bookie at the time, so I picked up a few things about the broader business in my youth. (The story itself is completely made up.)
Last night, thanks to a PFT reader, I received some old newspaper clippings about a time in 1958 when my dad and several other Wheeling residents were summoned to testify before a Pittsburgh grand jury that was exploring “the rackets.” To my amazement, there he was. Front and center in photographs of Wheeling witnesses who waited to testify.
I’d never heard about this before. I’d never seen the photos. I didn’t know they existed. It was like getting to spend another 30 seconds with him, nearly 25 years after he died.
So take, if you will, 30 seconds or so to order the ebook for $4.99 or the paperback for $13.97. As one verified purchaser posted on Amazon, “Great story and writing. Hard to believe this came from Mike Florio.”
Thanks, I guess.
