One day in 1982, Craig Lynch walked into the old Sun-Times building on Wabash Avenue and asked Taylor Bell for a job.

“He said some of his friends had heard that we were looking for [freelance writers] to cover high school sports,” said Bell, the now-retired Sun-Times prep sports editor.

Bell’s philosophy was to give virtually any potential writer a chance. Those who couldn’t file an exact copy under tight deadlines tended to be weeded out fairly quickly.

This was no problem for Lynch, even though he was different from most journalists: he was blind from birth.

But that didn’t stop him. Lynch spent more than 25 years covering prep sports for the Sun-Times, part of a career that saw him become one of the most well-known and beloved members of Chicago’s sports media scene.

Lynch died Tuesday shortly after suffering a stroke. He was 72 years old.

Tributes to Lynch have been popping up all week on social media from other members of the media and even the Cubs, who said on Twitter: “The Cubs mourn the passing of longtime radio journalist Craig Lynch, who covered the team for over 20 years Craig was a pleasure to work with and the press box at Wrigley Field will not be the same without him.

Lynch’s work spanned decades and media. In the 1980s and 1990s, in addition to his freelance work for the Sun-Times, he was a full-time employee of Triton College. As athletic director of the college radio station, he covered a Triton baseball team that included future MLB players Kirby Puckett and Lance Johnson.

Lynch also covered college sports at Northwestern and DePaul (he went to school with longtime Blue Demons women’s basketball coach Doug Bruno) and filed radio stories about the Cubs for the stations. from the south of the state.

But his coverage of high school sports is perhaps his most enduring legacy. After leaving the Sun-Times, Lynch continued to work for various suburban outlets.

“He did the job as well as anyone with sight,” Bell said. “He always got the interviews, always got the stats.”

Bell remembers occasional backsliding in the early years. “In its early days, some coaches [said], “What does a blind man do to cover my game?” “Said Bell. “We had to get out of this. We got away with it. »

“He didn’t want anyone to do him a favour,” Bell added. “[Coaches] soon realized he knew what he was doing.

Much like his colleagues in Chicago’s competitive media environment.

Chuck Garfien, a veteran reporter and anchor for NBC Sports Chicago, first crossed paths with Lynch at a DePaul men’s basketball game in 2005.

“It blew my mind,” Garfien said as he watched Lynch do his job. “I had to know him. He became a dear friend and someone who touched me deeply. …I wanted to live my life like him.

Garfien and other friends recalled Lynch’s infallible nature and quick wit.

It tells a story about Lynch going to a Cubs/Dodgers series in Los Angeles in 1979. A Dodgers fan heckled Chicagoans saying, “You’d have to be deaf, dumb and blind to be a Cubs fan”, to which Lynch replied, “Don’t hit the blind.”

Tim McKinney is another colleague who became good friends with Lynch after he continued to cross paths on the beat of prep sports. “He was one of the most unique people you know,” said McKinney, who was struck by Lynch’s “sincerity and kindness.”

McKinney has helped Lynch around Wrigley Field for the past few years and the pair have also gone to college games and MLB road trips, where Lynch seemed to know everyone.

One night at Northwestern, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo invited Lynch into the Spartans locker room for a chat. In Cincinnati, there was a shoutout from longtime Reds broadcaster Marty Brenneman.

“He was quick-witted,” McKinney said of Lynch. “We always had a lot of fun and we laughed a lot.”

By Carey Reeder | Personal editor

With the arrival of the snow, the Chilton County Softball Tournament has had a facelift and now all six area high schools will play 11 games over two days at Jemison High School. The six schools were divided into two or three groups of teams and each team would play two games on March 10, preparing the standings for the group game the following day.

Pool play began starting with Jemison and Thorsby High School in Game 1 of Pool B. Thorsby’s Makinley Turner pitched four innings on one hit, striking out eight batters in the process. The Rebels had 15 hits with Turner leading, 3-for-3 with five RBIs en route to a 14-0 win.

Thorsby followed up his first win by adding a second over Maplesville 4-3. Lindsey Burnett homered for three to give the Rebels a 4-1 lead late in the fifth inning.

Maplesville’s Jayla Nix answered with her own home run, a two-run shot to left field, to cut the lead to 4-3, but the comeback was short.

“We came out strong today and that’s what we were trying to do,” Thorsby head coach Holly Matson said. “Our bats were rolling better today, we’re excited and looking forward to getting there tomorrow and doing the same.”

Maplesville and Jemison ended March 10 and Group B action with the final game in a 5-1 Red Devils win.

Maplesville took an early 5-0 lead in two innings and five Jemison errors left no room for the Panthers’ comeback offer. Red Devil pitcher Lexi Smith allowed three hits in four innings with two strikeouts and an earned run. Makayla Lang drove Tori Adams on a groundout at second base in the third inning for Jemison’s lone run on March 10.

Pool A featured the county’s defending tournament champions, the Chilton County High School Tigers, and they kicked off pool play against Isabella High School.

The Tigers welcomed Tyeshia Williams back to the roster and the junior had five points to lead the CCHS to an 11-1 victory. She was 2 for 3 with a double, a home run and a walk.

Senior Emma Deason pitched five innings while allowing three hits and an earned run.

Megan Short hit a sacrificial fly down center to score Cadence Headley for Mustang’s lone run.

The CCHS played back-to-back matches on March 10 against Verbena High School directly after their win over Isabella.

“We hit the ball well and played great defense today,” Chilton County coach Johnny Giles said. “Overall I’m quite proud of our group, there’s always room for improvement, but we played well.”

The Tigers picked up where they left off and scored seven runs in the top of the first inning, capped by a triple from rookie Chloe Shiers. Williams, Jadyn Kurdziel and Anna Burnett all had two RBIs in the game.

Eighth-year CCHS pitcher Mallie Harrison allowed just one hit in shutting out the Red Devils in three innings.

Isabella and Verbena closed the Pool A game with the Red Devils beating the Mustangs 7-6. The Mustangs came first on the board when Anna Johnson picked a cross to tag Amelia Fjeldstad to give Isabella a 1-0 lead.

However, the lead was short-lived, with Verbena posting his seven runs in the bottom half of the first set. Jaycee Quinn and Kiara Ray each threw two-run homers in the inning and Alexis Smitherman scored two runs with a two-run RBI single.

Isabella threw everything at the Red Devils in the top of the second set scoring five runs in the frame to cut the deficit to 7-6. Three Verbena errors in the inning helped the Mustangs and Kristin Wilson had a one-run brace.

Jemison will face Verbena tomorrow (March 11) at 9 a.m. with Isabella and Maplesville to follow right after. These matches will decide who advances to the semi-finals against Thorsby and CCHS respectively.

The semi-final games are scheduled for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. with the championship game following at 5 p.m.

“Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor the darkness of the night prevent these couriers from completing their appointed rounds quickly.” That’s the motto of the US Postal Service, but add a pandemic and it could also apply to the Kingsport Book Fair, which was held last August at the Kingsport Civic Auditorium and returns this weekend.

Proceeds from the book fair benefit the Friends of Kingsport Public Library literacy programs as well as Team First Book Greater Kingsport, part of the Team First Book volunteer program within the First Book national organization.

Team First Book Greater Kingsport is an all-volunteer organization established in 2004 to serve children from low-income families from kindergarten through high school. He works closely with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Sullivan County, which provides free books in Tennessee to kindergarteners. Its funding comes from grants and donations and from efforts such as book sales.

The 2022 Book Fair opens Thursday at Kingsport Civic Auditorium next to Dobyns-Bennett High School and runs through Sunday. Organizers say COVID-19 precautions will be taken seriously and hand sanitizers will be available.

On Thursday, there will be a presale from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., with $10 entry. An academic presale will take place from 7-9 p.m., with $5 admission with a student, faculty, or staff card. The free event is Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. A half-price sale starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday followed by a $10 bag sale on Sunday starting at 12:45 p.m.

More than 20,000 used books at great prices will be available this year, organizers said, including fiction, non-fiction, children’s, large print, textbooks, art, cooking, histories/biographies, classics, regional, nature, hardcovers, paperbacks, multimedia, vinyl. and not English.

Sales are cash only for less than $25 and for sales over $25 cash or credit card. The event uses multiple rooms to meet social distancing requirements.

For more information or to volunteer, call (423) 967-7135 or email [email protected] or go online to facebook.com/KingsportBookFair.

Reading is good for you as it improves your concentration, memory, empathy and communication skills. It can reduce stress, improve your mental health and help you live longer. Reading also allows you to learn new things to help you succeed in your work and in your relationships.

If most of your daily reading consists of social media posts and text messages, you’re missing out on a whole new world.

Visit the book fair. With thousands of books in all areas, you’re sure to find something you like.

Mary Ann Jensen, fourteen-year-old author of the Sundance Springs series, was in our studio today to catch up with us on her latest writing accomplishments. Since she visited us last March, she has released two new books!

MASH POTATOES is book two in the series, and and Pause is the third book in his seven-part series. MASH POTATOES is the story of Victoria. She and the Sundance Squad have yet another slumber party and play MASH to predict their future. When they wake up, they are adults in an alternate world, living their MASH’s!

Pause is the story of Nicolle Parker. She likes High School Musical, and watch this movie with the Sundance Squad. The next day, they wake up as High School Musical characters in the movie!

Mary Ann tells us that an important message she’d like to share with Pause is anxiety, and how it’s not normalized despite so many people experiencing it, and especially during the pandemic. This book shows how you don’t have to struggle alone; your friends can help you!

We love spending time with this talented little lady and love following her journey!

Instagram: @BooksByMaryAnn

Etsy: Books by Mary Ann

Website: www.booksbymaryann.com

With the confirmation of the long-awaited Classroom of the Elite Season 2, it’s the perfect time for newcomers to jump into anime and manga.

With Season 2 finally confirmed after a five-year wait, now is the perfect time to get started with Elite class before the anime began its “Luxury Cruise Ship” arc. It can be hard to know where to start, especially since the franchise began as a series of light novels and how its volumes are separated into Year 1 and Year 2.

First published in 2015, the novels were picked up for an anime adaptation by Studio Lerche in 2017 and a manga adaptation in 2016, which is still ongoing. Here is what Elite class is all about and where potential fans can find its various versions.

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The plot of Classroom of the Elite

Elite class follows high school student Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, who prefers to be left alone rather than befriend his class D classmates. Set in the distant future, their school was established by the government to ensure the success of its next generation of Japanese citizens . This ruthless school operates on a merit-based system, and Class D is where the lowest ranked students hang out so others can laugh at them for their failures.

Despite his average grades and placement in the “dump class”, Ayanokoji is actually incredibly smart but chooses not to aim for top of the class. This secret intelligence underlies a traumatic past with many mysteries yet to be unraveled. After getting involved with two of his classmates, Ayanokoji’s perspective on the school and his classmates begins to change.

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Where to Read Classroom Elite Manga/Light Novels

the Elite class the light novels have been translated into English and are available from Amazon, Books-A-Million, Barnes & Noble, Right Stuf Anime, and many other retailers. Amazon has the books listed at $12.99 each, while Barnes & Noble and Books-A-Million list them at $13.99, and Right Stuf offers them at $11.19 each.

Amazon has Kindle versions available for around $8.99 to $9.99, also the price of B&N’s Nook version. At the time of writing, 12 of the 14 Year 1 volumes have been published in English, numbered 1-10 with volumes 4.5 and 7.5 also added.

The manga adaptation has not been released in English as of this writing, but is available for pre-order through the previously listed sites with a March 1, 2022 release date. The digital version will cost $9.99 while the physical version will be $13.99, while Volume 2 will be available on May 10, 2022. Year 2 light novels will be released later this year from July 19, 2022.

RELATED: How The Yu-Gi-Oh Manga Was Drastically Changed For The Anime

Where to Watch The Classroom of Elite Anime

the Elite class anime is available for free from the official Funimation website, though fans will need a premium account for the Japanese dub. It is also available for free on Crunchyroll. Episodes are available for purchase in HD on Amazon for $2.99 ​​per episode, or $23.99 for the entire first season.

An official Blu-ray version is also available on Amazon for $34.07, which also includes a DVD copy and is in Digital HD. Episodes are also available on Youtube for $1.99 for standard definition or $2.99 ​​for HD. Season 1 costs around $24.99.

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About the Author

Molly Kishikawa
(273 articles published)

Molly Kishikawa is an American artist living in Japan. As of the original Sailor Moon broadcast on Toonami, she has been an anime enthusiast ever since. Living in Japan for two years, she has seen with her own eyes how the country views anime and manga. She also enjoys video games, Dungeons & Dragons and J-Rock.

More Molly Kishikawa

But Professor Abbas Milani, a historian and director of Iranian studies at Stanford University, said the book eclipsed Mr Pezeshkzad’s more serious writing, including his scholarly research into literature by Persian poets Hafez and Saadi. Mr Pezeshkzad, he said, wanted his literary and non-fiction work to receive equal attention. This has never been the case.

When Stanford University awarded Mr. Pezeshkzad its Bita Award for Persian Arts in 2014, around 1,200 people attended the ceremony, the most for any Iran-related event at the school.

Iraj Pezeshkzad was born on January 29, 1927 in Tehran to Hassan Pezeshkzad, a doctor, and Gohar Fekri Ershad, an aristocrat of the Qajar dynasty.

Mr. Pezeshkzad had a sister and three half-brothers and since the age of 9 he lived in a compound surrounded by a lush 30,000 square foot garden. Some members of his extended family also lived at the compound.

As a child, he was a keen observer of his surroundings and those who inhabited it and later drew inspiration from them as a writer. In an essay about his childhood, for example, he recalled the delusional uncle who held court with children, asking them to pay homage to him by kissing his hands.

After graduating from high school in Iran, Mr. Pezeshkzad earned a law degree from the University of Dijon (now the University of Burgundy) in France. He soon began writing satirical short stories for Iranian publications and translating books by French writers like Voltaire and Molière into Persian. Back in Iran, he marries Mahin Chaybani. She died in 1979.

In Iran, he was a judge for five years, then worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as head of its cultural division until he was purged from his post after the revolution. Throughout, he wrote a popular satirical column for a literary magazine and produced plays, articles, research papers and books.

By BOBBIE GREEN

Progress

The Beaver Dam High School Interact Club, sponsored and advised by the Rotary Club of Mesquite, recently undertook a fundraising project to purchase books for the Beaver Dam Elementary School Library.

Interact students Zittlalys Gonzalez, club president and Jimena Gutierrez, club secretary, appealed for donations from local Mesquite Rotary clubs in a combined noon meeting. They talked about the different ways the thirteen members of Interact raised funds by selling Danielle’s popcorn at the concession stand during the Beaver Dam ball games.

Beaver Dam Elementary School principal Jeremy Clarke attended the club meeting with students and reported that Interact students would choose their favorite books to purchase. Additionally, there would be a note in each student’s book explaining why they chose that particular book. Each book would be stamped with the Rotary Interact club logo.

“We are happy to help the library and excited to be able to choose our favorite books to be included,” Gonzalez said.

The two Mesquite Rotary clubs donated to the Interact club. And on Monday, Feb. 14, Gonzalez presented a check for $1,300 to elementary school librarian Ms. Oster during an assembly at Beaver Dam High School.

Youngstown author Christopher Barzak makes lists — but not always the ones he wants to be included on.

Barzak, a professor at Youngstown State University, discovered earlier this month that his 2015 novel, “Wonders of the Unseen World” is included on a list of 850 books compiled by Texas State Representative Matt Krause and sent to school libraries. Krause claimed that the books contain material that “could cause students to experience discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or gender.”

Barzak had been following the story, which has been in national news since late October 2021, but didn’t realize his book made the list until a few weeks ago when a friend texted him and told him. asked what he thought of the list. He thought it was a general question, so he gave a general answer thinking it was a political stunt.

“No, your book is on the list” the friend tweeted back.

“That’s how I found out, when I was trying to do Wordle,” said Barzak. “She sent me a link with a list of all the books. When I saw this, I was really surprised. It was strange. At first, I had this feeling of hurt feelings for some reason. What the hell would there be in this book that someone would have found ban-able? It’s a pretty sweet book.

But Barzak and the book’s central character are gay, and the novel won a Stonewall Book Award from the American Library Association for having “exceptional merit” in his treatment of this subject. He believes that price is probably what got “Wonders” on the list rather than Krause reading the book.

“I don’t think they read much in general, maybe even the bills they pass,” he said.

Barzak found an analysis by Danika Ellis on the Book Riot website which claimed that more than 60% of the 850 books included LGBTQ characters or were written by authors who identify as such.

“I tried to understand why I had this (hurt) feeling” he said. “The act itself is mixed with memories of growing up gay in a time when it was much harder to be yourself and people obviously excluded and abused you. Getting a book shot just because you’re gay got mixed up in those memories. That’s an act of exclusion in itself… Wow, that hasn’t really gone away. There are still people out there who really want people like me to get away with it. go away and not be seen, not heard, have no voice, become second-class or even tertiary citizens again.

Barzak, 46, grew up in Johnston and graduated from Maplewood High School in 1993. He attended Kent State University at Trumbull and the University of Akron before graduating from YSU. He is the author of four novels (including one adapted into a 2014 film “Jamie Marks is dead” ) and two collections of short stories.

There have been positives since the start of the controversy. This week’s human rights campaign included “Wonders” on a list of LGBTQ+ positive books for middle and high school students. Barzak has noticed an increase in social media followers in Texas. And since he shared his feelings about being on the list, others have shared the post and encouraged people to buy the book in reaction to efforts to remove his work from libraries.

“If the sales of this book increase, it is always good”, he said. “It could put the book in the hands of people who need it.”

Barzak is currently working on revisions for a new novel, and his agent is buying a collection of short stories that is a retelling of classic monster fiction. He said it was too early to tell what impact, if any, this experience might have on his future work.

“I’ve always written novels and stories with lots of weird characters,” he said. “I always try to make the space a space for people like me… That way I don’t think anything will change. Maybe it will light more than one fire under me to do more.

From an early age, I knew that I was different from other students, especially boys. I preferred to play with girls but even then I didn’t completely belong to them either. As I got older in elementary school, I felt like it became less acceptable to spend so much time with girls as a boy, so I retreated to the haven of the library.

Here I could escape the fact that I felt very alone and could travel to new realms with endless possibilities. From CS Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia to Pullman’s His Dark Materials, I loved the idea of ​​a whole new world out there where people dressed and behaved differently from the world I lived in. A world where “normalcy” didn’t exist and where I was free to be who I wanted to be.

I often felt like I was so absorbed in the dream of those other worlds that I didn’t feel fully present in my own. However, as I got to high school and met more people, I started to find a small number of people who looked like me and who I could be myself with, and that was unbelievable.

They shared with me their own stories of their struggles from sexuality to gender: stories I had never encountered in the hundreds of books I must have read before encountering them.

These stories were raw and sometimes sad, but they were theirs and they belonged to them. Like Lyra, the protagonist of His Dark Materials, they were dreamers and thinkers, independent people who forged their own paths, and I wanted to be like them.

As I went through high school, I was able to accept my sexuality more and more – both with the help of my new friends and books. I started, little by little, to live my life in a more authentic way, from the way I spoke to what I chose to wear.

While there were still times when I felt lonely and exhausted navigating the world as a gay man, I no longer felt the need to escape the sometimes harsh realities of the world as often. That’s not to say there haven’t been times when I wish I could have been like Lucy from the Chronicles of Narnia and stumbled upon a whole other world, but those thoughts didn’t come as often as they once did. . I was growing up to better accept myself and not run away from who I was or who I wanted to be.