Story about John McLendon in the Cleveland Plain Dealer

The Cleveland Plain Dealer ran a comprehensive article on John B. McLendon, who became the first black coach at a predominately white university when he was hired by Cleveland State in 1966. Coach McLendon is standing on the far right in the above photo of his 1968-1969 CSU team.

The article was written by Joe Maxse, a reporter who knew McLendon, and it includes several comments by Milton Katz, author of Breaking Through: John B. McLendon, Basketball Legend and Civil Rights Pioneer. You can read the article here.

Milton Katz will be signing Breaking Through at Borders in Cleveland, 230 W. Huron Road, tonight, Monday the 17th, at 4:30 pm.

Iranian.com posted an excerpt of War on Error by Melody Moezzi today. Check it out for some interesting commentary (or provide some yourself!), and keep an eye on Iranian.com for a future excerpt from Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad.

"Beautifully wrought" and "potent"

Two recent reviews provide extensive background on the life and times of Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad and have great things to say about Sholeh Wolpe's new translation of Farrokhzad's work, Sin. That's a photo of Farrokhzad above. It was taken by her son.

New Mexican Magazine: "Farrokhzad is compared to Akhmatova and Plath. She's their peer, and this is a a magnificent book of beautifully wrought, distinctly modern poems."

Lebanon Daily Star: "Potent... like certain works by Charles Wright or Seamus Heaney [these poems], are meticulously built to be precise and elusive at once. They reach outside of the poet's own experience, beyond her headspace, her gender, her country of origin. Both pensive and urgent, they strive for the universal."

Milton Katz at National Collegeiate Basketball Hall of Fame

Milton Katz, author of Breaking Through: John B. McLendon, Basketball Legend and Civil Rights Pioneer, was on hand for the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame induction ceremonies in November. Professor Katz spoke on Tennessee State men's basketball teams, which Coach McLendon led to three NAIA titles in 1957, 1958, and 1959. Katz is pictured here with Dr. Dick Barnett, one of Coach McLendon's former players at Tennessee State University and three-time NAIA All-American, who was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Coach McLendon was inducted as one of the founding fathers last year, along with Phog Allen, Adolph Rupp, and Henry Iba.

See NAIA site for more information

Related review in Kansas City Star