McNEIL, William F. 1932-

PERSONAL: Born February 26, 1932, in North Attleboro, MA; married Janet Kathleen Hill, November 14, 1953; children: Michael, Daniel, Jeanne McNeil Kruger, Eileen McNeil Kurcon. Ethnicity: "Irish." Education: Northeastern University, B.S., 1960. Politics: Independent. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Historical and sports research, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—5 Woodland Dr., Pittsfield, MA 01201. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: E. U. DuPont de Nemours, Inc., Parlin, NJ, chemical engineer, 1960-67; Rhone Poulenc, Inc., director of manufacturing in New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, 1968-86; writer. Military service: U.S. Navy, sonar operator, 1951-55.

MEMBER: Early Sites Research Society, Society for American Baseball Research, New England Antiquities Research Association, Gungywamp Society.

AWARDS, HONORS: Robert W. Peterson Award, Society for American Baseball Research, 1997, 2000, 2001.

WRITINGS:

Dodger Diary, Celtic Publishing (Pittsfield, MA), 1986.

Mike Tyson, the Boy Who Would Be King, privately published, 1987.

Dodger Chronicles, privately published, 1993.

The King of Swat: An Analysis of Baseball's HomeRun Hitters from the Major, Minor, Negro, and Japanese Leagues, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 1997.

Dodgers Encyclopedia, Sagamore Publishing (Champaign, IL), 1997.

The Secret of Ancient America, 2nd edition, Celtic >Pub., 1999.

Baseball's Other All-Stars: The Greatest Players from the Negro Leagues, the Japanese Leagues, the Mexican League, and the Pre-1960 Winter Leagues in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 2000.

Ruth, Maris, McGwire, and Sosa: Baseball's Single-Season Home Run Champions, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 1999, revised as The Single-Season Home Run Kings, 2003.

Cool Papas and Double Duties: The All-Time Greats of the Negro Leagues, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 2001.

The California Winter League: America's First Integrated Professional Baseball League, McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC), 2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Gabby Hartnett: Baseball's Greatest Catcher, for McFarland and Co. (Jefferson, NC).

SIDELIGHTS: William F. McNeil once told CA: "I have enjoyed writing since I was a child. For years I tried to write the great American novel, but I could never get it off the ground. I started writing nonfiction in 1984. My two greatest passions are sports (particularly baseball and boxing), and ancient history (particularly ancient American history). To date I have written six books: five on baseball and one history book.

"My chemical engineering background is invaluable in my writing, because it taught me discipline, organization, and conciseness. Most of my writing involves hundreds of hours of research. The key to my writing, in addition to substantial research, is organization. If the book is well organized, I find the actual writing is relatively easy.

"I have been happily married for nearly fifty years. My wife and I enjoy traveling and have visited many foreign countries, including Mexico, Turkey, Egypt, Ireland, and Israel. We both enjoy visiting the historical places in each country. We also enjoy the different people and cultures. The children are particularly interesting. We have found that children are the same all over the world, when they are young and innocent."