November 6: David E. Sumner Author and Journalism Professor
Join us on Tuesday when David E. Sumner will talk about his book, Fumbled Call. A week before the 1962 Georgia-Alabama football game, an Atlanta insurance salesman unintentionally overheard a telephone conversation that thrust him into a scandal that captured national headlines. He thought he overheard Wally Butts, the Georgia athletic director, give Paul “Bear” Bryant, the legendary Alabama coach, play formations that helped Alabama win the game 35-0. The Saturday Evening Post published “The Story of a College Football Fix” a few months later, which led to libel lawsuits by both coaches. Fumbled Call shows how two prominent college football coaches covered up the truth.
David E. Sumner was head of the magazine journalism program at Ball State University for 25 years before retiring in 2015. He published Fumbled Call in March and is currently working on his eighth book, The Coach Who Wouldn’t Quit, a biography of the legendary football coach Amos Alonzo Stagg. He does freelance writing for magazines and newspapers and has published four articles on the Indianapolis Star’s “Faith and Values” page. He and his wife, Elise, a retired Spanish teacher, have been married for 35 years and he is a member of the Anderson Rotary Club.
The public is always welcome at Rotary. Our programs take place at the Ivy Tech Culinary and Conference Center and the cost is just $26 per person. It’s best to arrive by noon and know that we always conclude by 1:15.
