August 13, 2004
The Illinois High School Association is pleased to announce the arrival of a new book on the high school sports scene, written by one of Illinois' most esteemed sports journalists. Until his retirement three years ago, Taylor Bell of the Chicago Sun-Times was the dean of the high school basketball beat and a permanent fixture at the IHSA state tournament. Since then he has put his free time to good use, combining his vast knowledge of the game and a Rolodex full of contacts into a remarkable new volume entitled Sweet Charlie, Dike, Cazzie, and Bobby Joe: High School Basketball in Illinois.
Published by the University of Illinois Press, the 248-page paperback covers six decades, from the 1940s through the 1990s. Bell hits all the high points and many in between in sixty sub-chapters that cover the state from Cobden to Hebron, from Quincy to Paris. This winter Mr. Bell will make personal appearances at high school games and tournaments in many of the places he wrote about. He will cap his book tour in March with signings in the March Madness Experience Hall in Peoria.
The IHSA is offering the book for sale by special arrangement with the U of I Press. The first shipment will arrive from the printer in late September. Pre-orders are being taken until that time. Three years in the making, Sweet Charlie is sure to be a cherished memento for any high school basketball fan.