Book Description
"I Remember Pete Maravich" is a beautiful hardcover book that details the professional career and personal example of "Pistol Pete" Maravich. His amazing record and ball-handling tricks are just some of the stories recounted here by some of Maravich's closest acquaintances, including his friends, fellow basketball players, coaches, and relatives.
From the Publisher
"I Remember Pete Maravich" is not a biography, rather it is a compilation of candid and revealing memories of Maravich told by dozens who knew him well. Towle not only captures Maravich's extraordinary style of basketball, but also, his conversion to Christ late in his life.
From the Author
I met Maravich in late December 1987 on a Delta flight from Little Rock to Dallas. The night before we had been at the Alabama-Arkansas nonconference basketball game, Pete as a color commentator for USA Network and me as a college hoops writer for the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram." During the return flight, I went back to Pete's seat and introduced myself. We chatted briefly and exchanged business cards, and that was that. Christmas came and went, and in early January I was back in Arkansas, this time holed up in a Fayetteville hotel because I was in town covering another Arkansas game. It was there that I was watching television when an announcement was made of Maravich's death that morning. . .
From the Inside Flap
Pete Maravich was unquestionably the most exciting and entertaining basketball player of his generation. A wizard at handling, passing, or shooting the ball and the most prolific scorer in college basketball history, "Pistol Pete" was as recognizable as he was flashy. If the mop of brown hair and floppy gray socks didn't identify him, the behind-the-back dribbling and between-the-legs passes would.
Maravich captured the nation's attention while playing basketball for his father at Louisiana State University, averaging an incredible 44.2 points per game over three years and earning college player-of-the-year honors in 1970. Pistol Pete then played ten years in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks, New orleans Jazz,, and Boston Celtics, winning All NBA First Team honors twice and Second Team honors two other times and finishing his pro career with a 24.2 average. Less than a year after being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987, Maravich collapsed while playing basketball with friends and died an hour later as doctors tried to revive him. He was only forty years old.
To this day Maravich is remembered for his on-court showmanship and off-court charisma. In "I Remember Pete Maravich," his life and legacy are recalled firsthand by players, coaches, friends, fans, and prominent basketball experts. They recall the soft-spoken man who turned toward God, becoming a born-again Christian, after his retirement in 1980. Maravich's life is revealed here like never before as one filled with athletic achievement and divine inspiration.
About the Author
Mike Towle is a veteran author who has written about sports for almost thirty years. As a sports reporter, he covered the National Basketball Association, among other beats, for the "Fort Worth Star-Telegram" and "The National." His previous books include "I Remember Ben Hogan," "I Remember Augusta," "I Remember Walter Payton," "True Champions," and "The Ultimate Golf Trivia Book." Towle and his wife live in Nashville with their son.
