The Leather Man

by Mel Reisner


Formats

Hardcover
$35.99
E-Book
$3.99
Softcover
$18.99
Hardcover
$35.99

Book Details

Language : English
Publication Date : 6/10/2014

Format : Hardcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 282
ISBN : 9781480806955
Format : E-Book
Dimensions : N/A
Page Count : 282
ISBN : 9781480806948
Format : Softcover
Dimensions : 6x9
Page Count : 282
ISBN : 9781480806931

About the Book

"Wow! A story that encapsulates college football in the ’60s. From Edison Green attempting to challenge the stigma that a black man could not be a big-time college quarterback to Quintus LeClaire, the Vietnam veteran lost until fate gives him the opportunity to rekindle his life through football and become the ‘blue-chipper who fell through the cracks,’ to the life struggles of coach Ben Steinbrecher, called the Leather Man, who faces his challenges and finds himself as a result, this is a must-read from cover to cover."

—Dave Campo, former Dallas Cowboys coach

Canyon City, in southern Idaho, is the home of Canyon State College, a small school in possession of a large football coach—Ben Steinbrecher, a man as strong as Samson and just as rooted in the Bible through his minister father.

Known to some as “the Leather Man,” the coach is doing his best to raise his mentally handicapped son in a loving home while the love in his marriage dwindles. Already kept from an NFL career by a knee injury, Steinbrecher’s frustrations pile up while his coaching career blossoms until, inevitably, he hits the brink of human endurance.

The coach’s team is peopled with characters such as Latin-quoting war hero Quintus LeClaire, dropped into Canyon State’s football program because of a Vietnam flashback and a chance encounter with a good cop, along with straight arrow David Talty, raised by colorful Uncle Joe; menacing Brock Banning; and Preston “Taters” Jones. All play a role in elevating the program and in shaping Steinbrecher’s path toward the ultimate test of his beliefs and his will to live.


About the Author

Mel Reisner worked for three newspapers and five Associated Press bureaus during his career. He won writing awards in New York and Washington states and was an adjunct professor teaching sports writing at Syracuse University. Reisner and his wife live in Idaho, where he planted an International Peace Forest, mixing Serbian spruces and Bosnian pines.