Last Press Bus Out of Middletown: A Memoir

by Bob Hammel

For 30 years, celebrated sports journalist Bob Hammel has reported on a variety of games and athletes–the Olympics, Pan American Games, 23 NCAA Final Fours, Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series, college football bowl games, Muhammad Ali's last championship victory, and dozens of Indiana high school basketball Final Fours. In all that time, however, he's never written much about himself–ntil now.
In Last Press Bus Out of Middletown , Bob tells the story of how an Indiana sports journalist without a college degree, armed with talent, gumption, and a whole lot of inspiration and advice from those he worked with, earned national attention while still working for his small-town newspaper. From Bob Knight to Mark Spitz, from the horrors of the Munich Olympics tragedy to the Hoosiers' exhilarating clinching of the NCAA basketball championship, Bob Hammel's journey has been unforgettable. Even in his 80s, it's a dream that still has him smiling and storytelling.

160 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2019

About the author

Bob Hammel served as a sports editor and columnist on Indiana newspapers for 50 years. For 30 of those years he was sports editor and columnist for the Bloomington Herald-Times. The recipient of many honors and awards for sports writing, he is the author of eight books, including Beyond the Brink with Indiana (IUP, 1987) and A Banner Year (IUP, 1993). With Bob Knight, he co-authored Knight: My Story. Hammel lives in Bloomington, Indiana."

Reviews

[Rick Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book needed to be at least twice as long to get more of Hammel’s insights on IU teams and the people he crossed paths with.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharing – I just finished reading the book, “Last Press Bus Out of Middletown”, a memoir by the great sportswriter Bob Hammel, formerly of the Bloomington Herald Telephone (H-T). There is a personal interest in this memoir – Mr. Hammel is a native of Huntington, Indiana, and had his start in journalism with the Huntington Herald Press. His distinguished career with the Bloomington H-T led him to reporting of the Indiana University athletics, and many friendships, including Coach Bob Knight. He had a most interesting start in journalism – not completing a journalism degree but instead, worked his way using his superior writing skills with papers in Huntington, Kokomo, Peru, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, and Bloomington. When I was a young boy, trips to Huntington were frequent due to visits with grandparents, and I grew up reading the sports columns written by George Frye in the Huntington Herald Press. Mr. Hammel preceded Mr. Frye, and Mr. Hammel’s first column in the Herald Press was an article about Chris Schenckel, also a Huntington area native, and later ABC Sportscaster. As an IU student, I read Mr. Hammel’s reporting within the H-T; his journalistic writings were an enjoyable reading adventure since he developed relationships which provided him with quality material. Later, Mr. Hammel wrote at least 3 books on the national championship teams (’76, ’81, ’87), all of which I have previously read. Other point-out: He mentioned in his memoir that he was friends with the late professor George Juergens, who was my favorite professor at IU (history). Professor Jeurgens has a great way of communicating and storytelling within the class lectures, which contributed to an interest in history. I acquired this book from the “Indiana University Press” and recommend should you be interested in his experiences – an outstanding memoir! (By the way, Mr. Hammel mentioned the late Bob Straight, formerly head coach of Huntington North Vikings, and how he was similar in coaching style with Coach Knight; I also remembered those Huntington teams when Bluffton played them in the 60’s).