Lowe, Stephen R. 1966–

views updated

Lowe, Stephen R. 1966–

(Stephen Robert Lowe)

PERSONAL: Born June 3, 1966, in Garden City, MI; son of Stephen R. (a pastor) and Arlene E. Lowe; married Kimberly Kay Allen, August 10, 1990; children: Stephen Robert, Jr., Elizabeth Grace. Ethnicity: "German-American." Education: Olivet Nazarene University, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1988; Ohio University, M.A., 1991, Ph.D., 1993. Politics: Independent. Religion: Protestant. Hobbies and other interests: Golf, reading.

ADDRESSES: Home—Bourbonnais, IL. Office—Department of History, Olivet Nazarene University, Kankakee, IL 60901. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Olivet Nazarene University, Kankakee, IL, began as associate professor, became professor of American history, 1993–.

MEMBER: North American Society for Sport History, Popular Culture Association, Organization of American Historians.

WRITINGS:

The Kid on the Sandlot: Congress and Professional Sports, 1910–1992, Bowling Green University (Bowling Green, OH), 1995.

Sir Walter and Mr. Jones: Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, and the Rise of American Golf, Sleeping Bear Press (Chelsea, MI), 2000.

Contributor of articles and reviews to periodicals, including Golf, Golf World, Journal of Sport History, Georgia Historical Quarterly, and Nine: Journal of Baseball History and Social Policy Perspectives.

SIDELIGHTS: Stephen R. Lowe once told CA: "It was as a graduate student at Ohio University that I discovered the field of sports history. My adviser, Charles C. Alexander, introduced me to the scholarly study of sports and suggested that I might blend my interests in American history and sports. I decided to give sports history a try and my first graduate seminar paper evolved first into my M.A. thesis, then into my Ph.D. dissertation, and finally into my first book, The Kid on the Sandlot: Congress and Professional Sports, 1910–1992. Obviously, Professor Alexander's influence was significant to my decision to write sports history, but ultimately I made the choice because it allows me to research and write about something that I absolutely enjoy and that is absolutely important to millions of Americans.

"My second book, Sir Walter and Mr. Jones: Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, and the Rose of American Golf, was a very different undertaking. A parallel biography, the work presented unique and daunting challenges in terms of research and writing. I selected Walter Hagen and Bobby Jones as subjects because neither had been treated in a scholarly fashion; their careers peaked in the 1920s, one of my favorite periods in American history; and because their lives presented fascinating contrasts. Since childhood, I had enjoyed reading biography more than any other type of history, and now I have also concluded that it is my favorite historical form to write. Biography is my favorite form simply because it is inherently human; it deals with the achievements, failures, joys, and frustrations of life.

"I have also come to believe that good history need not be—indeed, should not be—excessively academic in tone or content. Too many historians, particularly in the field of sports, research, write, and publish primarily for each other. My firm conviction is that high quality history should be exhaustive in research, yet accessible in form. Narrative is vital to history, and that principle has become the bedrock of my own work."