Seeking Redemption: The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball

by Thaddeus O Cooper, Kevin B Kreitman

Seeking Redemption - The Real Story of the Beautiful Game of Skee-Ball is the first and only book about the history of Skee-Ball, and the authoritative history of the game . Seeking Redemption tells a timeless story of a start-up, beginning with the unlikely inventor, Joseph Fourestier Simpson, and featuring all of the classic struggles and triumphs. It is also a story of how this beloved game of Skee-Ball survived two world wars, recessions and depressions, industry transformations, technology revolutions and legal wrangling to thrive for over 100 years. Skee-Ball morphed from its' origins as "A Man's Game" to becoming a fascinating game for everyone. It's continued to survive patent wars, clone competition, and the threats of bankruptcy and obscurity to emerge once again as a best selling iPhone app, and be resurrected for modern amusement venues by Bay Tek Games, Inc. redesign in 2016. This book is a treasure for history buffs as well. Meticulously researched from primary sources, lavishly illustrated with original photographs, letters, papers and documents, it allows the history to speak for itself in an engaging and readable way. Not just the story of the game, it is a unique view into the universal human struggles for redemption and recognition, and a salute to the eternal inventiveness of the human spirit.

464 pages, Hardcover

Published December 8, 2016

About the author

Thaddeus O. Cooper was born in New Jersey. Growing up, he summered at the Jersey shore playing Skee-Ball and spent his spare time in the library the rest of the year. Educated in Fine Arts and Theatre at Penn State, he worked in technical theatre for a number of years. After shifting his career to computer science, he blended his arts background with his skills in digital technology for software development and multimedia projects. Relocating to L.A. as a sound recordist and then to the Bay Area of California, he rediscovered Skee-Ball on his iPhone and set out to produce a short video about its history and how it entered the digital age. The rest, as they say, is (Skee-Ball) history.

Thaddeus lives with his wife and cat, Mao Mao in the San Francisco Bay area.

Reviews

[George Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stunning in its magnitude. The authors leave no stone unturned and no ball unrolled. The book is incredibly complex and well researched. At times, it is overwhelming, but it is a historical masterpiece that shows how research should be done in the age of Twitter. Kudos to the authors for piecing it together and investing so much time.

Now I want to play some Skee-Ball.