Jody Ferguson (Author of Above the Water)

Jody Ferguson rated a book really liked it Invisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro Leagues by Donn Rogosin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In his book Invisible Men the author Donn Rogosin examines the story of a forgotten part of American history, pro baseball’s Negro Leagues. We often hear about Jackie Robinson (see the story on Robinson’s exploits at UCLA) and just assume he was the ...more
May 05, 2025 09:36AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Invisible Men by Donn Rogosin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Invisible Men by Donn Rogosin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jody Ferguson rated a book really liked it Karla's Choice by Nick Harkaway (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nick Harkaway proves a worthy successor to his father, the late, great John Le Carré in writing this spy novel featuring George Smiley, the fictional spy at the heart of all Le Carré's series of 'Circus' novels. Karla's Choice takes on the unexplored ...more
Feb 11, 2025 08:09AM · like · see review
Jody Ferguson rated a book it was amazing Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War by Ben Macintyre	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Macintyre tells us the story of the famed SAS regiment of British special forces that fought so heroically in World War II, primarily in the Mediterranean theater. David Stirling, the founder of the unit, looked for intelligent, bold risk takers to f ...more
Jan 15, 2025 07:54AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jody Ferguson rated a book really liked it Invisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro Leagues by Donn Rogosin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
In his book Invisible Men the author Donn Rogosin examines the story of a forgotten part of American history, pro baseball’s Negro Leagues. We often hear about Jackie Robinson (see the story on Robinson’s exploits at UCLA) and just assume he was the ...more
Oct 17, 2024 08:44AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Invisible Men by Donn Rogosin. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Invisible Men by Donn Rogosin <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jody Ferguson rated a book really liked it Colonel House: A Biography of Woodrow Wilson's Silent Partner by Charles E. Neu	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Edward Mandell House was a erudite, accomplished man who exercised tremendous influence on U.S. politics and world diplomacy in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, he is one of the more obscure and forgotten figures of Ameri ...more
Sep 03, 2024 09:17AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Colonel House by Charles E. Neu. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Colonel House by Charles E. Neu <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

Jody Ferguson rated a book really liked it

Invisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro Leagues
by Donn Rogosin

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In his book Invisible Men the author Donn Rogosin examines the story of a forgotten part of American history, pro baseball’s Negro Leagues. We often hear about Jackie Robinson (see the story on Robinson’s exploits at UCLA) and just assume he was the In his book Invisible Men the author Donn Rogosin examines the story of a forgotten part of American history, pro baseball’s Negro Leagues. We often hear about Jackie Robinson (see the story on Robinson’s exploits at UCLA) and just assume he was the first black pro baseball player. What we don’t hear about is that Robinson was one of many Big League players who got their start in the Negro Leagues before WWII and integration.

Rogosin’s interest in this topic began in his teaching days when he interviewed a former player from the Negro Leagues, Willie Wells, in his hometown Austin, Texas. Rogosin realized that there were scarcely any histories about the Negro Leagues. He believed that this story “was a magnificent part of American history that needed to be remembered,” and that “Negro League baseball was far bigger than a baseball or a sports story…that it was an essential part of the American experience.” Rogosin argues that the integration of black baseball players into the major leagues was a forerunner of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Rogosin writes of the black baseball players of the 1900s-1940s, “When their baseball victories came against white opponents, they undermined segregation itself.” In other words, it was a story that needed to be told.

Over the years Rogosin interviewed dozens of black players from the Negro Leagues. Rogosin writes that the players in the Negro Leagues were self-deprecating, “They didn’t think of themselves as forerunners of the civil rights movement, or that they played a role in it, but they did.” He goes on to explain that he wrote the book to open a window on life in general in America for blacks before World War II. “Negro baseball operated in a segregated world. But the walls of segregation were porous and…Negro league baseball attacked those walls ideologically, economically, and emotionally.”

Rogosin describes the rise of the Negro League and the individuals who were instrumental in its success, including Rube Foster and the first woman to own and run a professional sports organization in America, Effa Manley. Many of the Negro League teams were in northern cities, where there had been a large influx of black Americans to fill factory jobs during the First World War. These people represented a burgeoning middle class in America. They had the income to do many of the same things white Americans did, including supporting baseball teams. For many of the poor, uneducated players who came from the south, baseball gave them the means to support their families, and as they went north to play, they became part of the class of black Americans with rising economic means and rising expectations. They began to expect to be treated fairly and equally. Rogosin describes how during the off-season black teams would tour the Midwest and West, where there were no professional baseball teams, and where the spectators were universally white. The white players who played against these black teams grew to admire the skills of the black players. For black Americans the growth and success of the Negro League gave them hope: “black people, crushed by segregation, desperately needed models to emulate; and they required men and women who cast large shadows, large enough to make known the truth of black talent.” People like Rube Foster and Effa Manley became role models, not as players, but as successful professionals. The growth of the Negro League helped spur the sale and the spread of black newspapers, which helped unite black culture nationally and further advance black expectations of equality. Negro League teams “evolved into a vital component of community building.”

The growing success of the Negro League and the talent of the black players were noticed by white owners in major league baseball. They knew that integration was coming. The commissioner of major league baseball said of blacks in 1945, “If they can fight and die on Okinawa, Guadalcanal, in the South Pacific, they can play baseball in America.” What owners were looking for was the right player, not necessarily the best player. Ultimately, it was Jackie Robinson who shattered the barrier of segregation. When the civil rights movement swept America, black baseball players from the Negro League were finally given their dues and the best ones were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, decades after they played.

Maybe the greatest sign that the success of Negro League baseball and the integration of major league baseball came to affect desegregation and the civil rights movement in America is the fact that baseball integrated before the U.S. Army or American schools integrated, becoming the first large institution in the United States to do so. ...more

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Karla's Choice
by Nick Harkaway (Goodreads Author)

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Nick Harkaway proves a worthy successor to his father, the late, great John Le Carré in writing this spy novel featuring George Smiley, the fictional spy at the heart of all Le Carré's series of 'Circus' novels. Karla's Choice takes on the unexplored ...more

Jody Ferguson rated a book it was amazing

Rogue Heroes: The History of the SAS, Britain's Secret Special Forces Unit That Sabotaged the Nazis and Changed the Nature of War
by Ben Macintyre

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Macintyre tells us the story of the famed SAS regiment of British special forces that fought so heroically in World War II, primarily in the Mediterranean theater. David Stirling, the founder of the unit, looked for intelligent, bold risk takers to f ...more

Jody Ferguson rated a book really liked it

Invisible Men: Life in Baseball's Negro Leagues
by Donn Rogosin

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

In his book Invisible Men the author Donn Rogosin examines the story of a forgotten part of American history, pro baseball’s Negro Leagues. We often hear about Jackie Robinson (see the story on Robinson’s exploits at UCLA) and just assume he was the In his book Invisible Men the author Donn Rogosin examines the story of a forgotten part of American history, pro baseball’s Negro Leagues. We often hear about Jackie Robinson (see the story on Robinson’s exploits at UCLA) and just assume he was the first black pro baseball player. What we don’t hear about is that Robinson was one of many Big League players who got their start in the Negro Leagues before WWII and integration.

Rogosin’s interest in this topic began in his teaching days when he interviewed a former player from the Negro Leagues, Willie Wells, in his hometown Austin, Texas. Rogosin realized that there were scarcely any histories about the Negro Leagues. He believed that this story “was a magnificent part of American history that needed to be remembered,” and that “Negro League baseball was far bigger than a baseball or a sports story…that it was an essential part of the American experience.” Rogosin argues that the integration of black baseball players into the major leagues was a forerunner of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Rogosin writes of the black baseball players of the 1900s-1940s, “When their baseball victories came against white opponents, they undermined segregation itself.” In other words, it was a story that needed to be told.

Over the years Rogosin interviewed dozens of black players from the Negro Leagues. Rogosin writes that the players in the Negro Leagues were self-deprecating, “They didn’t think of themselves as forerunners of the civil rights movement, or that they played a role in it, but they did.” He goes on to explain that he wrote the book to open a window on life in general in America for blacks before World War II. “Negro baseball operated in a segregated world. But the walls of segregation were porous and…Negro league baseball attacked those walls ideologically, economically, and emotionally.”

Rogosin describes the rise of the Negro League and the individuals who were instrumental in its success, including Rube Foster and the first woman to own and run a professional sports organization in America, Effa Manley. Many of the Negro League teams were in northern cities, where there had been a large influx of black Americans to fill factory jobs during the First World War. These people represented a burgeoning middle class in America. They had the income to do many of the same things white Americans did, including supporting baseball teams. For many of the poor, uneducated players who came from the south, baseball gave them the means to support their families, and as they went north to play, they became part of the class of black Americans with rising economic means and rising expectations. They began to expect to be treated fairly and equally. Rogosin describes how during the off-season black teams would tour the Midwest and West, where there were no professional baseball teams, and where the spectators were universally white. The white players who played against these black teams grew to admire the skills of the black players. For black Americans the growth and success of the Negro League gave them hope: “black people, crushed by segregation, desperately needed models to emulate; and they required men and women who cast large shadows, large enough to make known the truth of black talent.” People like Rube Foster and Effa Manley became role models, not as players, but as successful professionals. The growth of the Negro League helped spur the sale and the spread of black newspapers, which helped unite black culture nationally and further advance black expectations of equality. Negro League teams “evolved into a vital component of community building.”

The growing success of the Negro League and the talent of the black players were noticed by white owners in major league baseball. They knew that integration was coming. The commissioner of major league baseball said of blacks in 1945, “If they can fight and die on Okinawa, Guadalcanal, in the South Pacific, they can play baseball in America.” What owners were looking for was the right player, not necessarily the best player. Ultimately, it was Jackie Robinson who shattered the barrier of segregation. When the civil rights movement swept America, black baseball players from the Negro League were finally given their dues and the best ones were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, decades after they played.

Maybe the greatest sign that the success of Negro League baseball and the integration of major league baseball came to affect desegregation and the civil rights movement in America is the fact that baseball integrated before the U.S. Army or American schools integrated, becoming the first large institution in the United States to do so. ...more

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Colonel House: A Biography of Woodrow Wilson's Silent Partner
by Charles E. Neu

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Edward Mandell House was a erudite, accomplished man who exercised tremendous influence on U.S. politics and world diplomacy in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, he is one of the more obscure and forgotten figures of Ameri Edward Mandell House was a erudite, accomplished man who exercised tremendous influence on U.S. politics and world diplomacy in the first two decades of the twentieth century. Nevertheless, he is one of the more obscure and forgotten figures of American history. What drew me to learn more about House is the fact that he—like me—was a native of Austin, Texas, and because he appeared on the margins in one of my favorite novels 1919 written by John Dos Passos. Dos Passos is another giant of the early twentieth century who has become obscured with time. I wrote a review of Dos Passos’ journey across the Pacific as a war correspondent in WWII. He is an author who has greatly influenced my own writing.

As for House, he was probably the first man in American history to fulfill the role of White House Chief of Staff, under President Woodrow Wilson. In the early twentieth century, such a title didn’t officially exist. House was born in Houston before the Civil War to an English father and an American mother. His father, Thomas House—an intriguing character who is probably worthy of a biography himself—made money through the dry goods and cotton business, and then through banking and the accumulation of property all over the state of Texas. During the Civil War the elder House was a blockade runner, sending out cotton and bringing in arms, manufactured goods and other items from Europe. Upon his death in 1880 Thomas’ children, including Edward, inherited a fortune of $500,000, the third largest fortune in Texas at that time. Edward House then moved to Austin, and besides overseeing a productive cotton farm in Taylor, he decided to take a hand in Texas politics. An inveterate networker, he made connections in Democratic circles and helped elect four consecutive governors of Texas. His first project was twice-elected Governor James Hogg who gave House the honorary title of ‘Colonel’ which stuck throughout House’s career. House helped convince Hogg to create a Texas state Railroad Commission, to regulate the railroads. It subsequently became one of the more powerful national agencies because of its oversight of the Texas oil industry. House built a large home on Judge’s Hill west of the capital, above Shoal Creek. It served as a social and political center of the growing capitol city. House later deeded land he owned along Shoal Creek that had served as a horse paddock to the City of Austin, with the stipulation that the land only be used for youth recreation. It is now the site of House Park, a high school football stadium.

Tiring of the provincialism of Austin, House decided to try his hand at national politics. He moved to New York and began sizing up presidential candidates for the beleaguered Democratic Party, which had won only two elections (both by Grover Cleveland) since the Civil War. House seized upon New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson, like House, a liberal. Wilson’s name today brings up negative connotations of racism, but at the time he was seen as very progressive and believed in social programs for the poor and in curbing the malign influence of large corporations. Of course, Wilson’s most noteworthy accomplishments included the creation of the League of Nations (which America never joined) and the Fourteen Points that guided the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I. House was instrumental in creating these policies, working as Wilson’s right-hand man in Versailles. House was also the first man probably ever to engage in what we call today ‘shuttle diplomacy’ in the early years of the First World War, travelling between London, Paris, and Berlin, even as these nations were engaged in a titanic struggle on the Western Front.

Neu’s comprehensive biography of House is generally favorable, though Neu does point out that House, who avoided the limelight all of his life as a behind-the-curtain-fixer, became enamored with international negotiating and ‘summiteering’ and he often worked out backroom deals with the British and French heads of states, without Wilson’s full knowledge. House also enjoyed the attention he began getting in the international press. He could arrive unannounced in any European capital and be seen by presidents and prime ministers without an appointment. This practice grew irksome to Wilson and after the Versailles Treaty was signed on June 28, 1919, the friendship broke and the two men never spoke again. Wilson was soon to suffer a debilitating stroke and would pass away in 1924. House would live out his life as an elder statesman, in the last years counseling President Franklin Roosevelt before passing away in 1938. He was buried in Houston. Although House was a man born with all the advantages, he was hardly one to rest on his laurels (reminding one of an early version of Averell Harriman). He made a significant impact on the state of Texas, the United States, and the entire world through his sage and measured counseling, and his progressive politics. It is a testament that he is better-known in Europe (among the Fourteen Points were stipulations for the creation of independent states in Eastern Europe), and that he has statue in at least one European capital, but not one in Texas or the United States. His sole memorial is the stadium in Central Austin. ...more

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