On this week's Free Press Radio Show, Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer talks about his latest book, "100 Things a Panther Fan Should Know and Do Before They Die". CLICK HERE to listen to the show.
Scott Fowler bio (from www.scottfowlersports.com):
Scott Fowler is a national award-winning sports columnist for The Charlotte Observer, the largest newspaper in the Carolinas. He has written for The Observer since 1994. Many of his columns also appear in The Observer’s sister newspapers -- The (Raleigh) News and Observer and The Columbia (S.C.) State.
Scott has authored or co-authored seven books, the most recent a history of the Carolina Panthers (published in 2013 by Triumph Books) that you can order here.
A native of Spartanburg, S.C., Scott graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a journalism degree from the University of North Carolina in 1987. He worked for three years from 1987-90 covering the University of Kentucky sports teams – primarily Kentucky basketball – for The Louisville Courier-Journal. He then took a job with The Miami Herald and covered the NFL’s Miami Dolphins for most of three seasons, writing about teams led by head coach Don Shula and quarterback Dan Marino.
In 1994, Scott moved back closer to home to write for The Charlotte Observer’s sports section. Scott and his colleague Charles Chandler combined to cover the Carolina Panthers on a day-to-day basis during the squad’s early seasons. They also co-wrote a regional bestselling book called "Year of the Cat" (1997, Simon & Schuster).
Scott followed that book with "Tales from the Carolina Panthers Sideline" (2004); "North Carolina Tar Heels: Where Have You Gone?" (2005); and "Jimmy Black's Tales from the Tar Heels" (2006), which was the story of the 1982 UNC championship team written in collaboration with its senior point guard.
Scott's first novel published in 2012, "Lost on the Road to Nowhere," is young-adult fiction appropriate for ages 8 and up. It is an adventure story about four children lost in the N.C. woods. (More information can be found here on this book, which has already been adopted into several elementary-school language art curriculums).
In 1999, Scott became a Charlotte Observer sports columnist. He maintains a close connection with the Panthers, focusing many of his columns on the team and its players, but also covers college basketball, NASCAR, the Olympics and other sports. He occasionally also writes columns about fatherhood and politics.
Scott’s newspaper work has won more than a dozen national awards and a collection of some of his favorite stories can be found on this website here. He has made several appearances on ESPN’s "Outside the Lines" and serves as a frequent guest on local and national sports-radio talk shows. He also was an on-camera presence in a 2009 HBO documentary about the UNC-Duke basketball rivalry.
Scott and his wife Elise live with their four children in North Carolina. He frequently speaks to civic and school groups about sports, books, journalism and how to write more effectively. He welcomes your e-mails at ScottFowlerBooks@aol.com.