Rushin, Steve 1966–

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Rushin, Steve 1966–

PERSONAL: Born September 22, 1966, in Elmhurst, IL; son of Donald E. and Jane Clare (Boyle) Rushin; married; wife's name Rebecca Lobo. Education: Marquette University, B.A., 1988. Religion: Roman Catholic. Hobbies and other interests: Basketball, reading, travel.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 841 Broadway, 4th Fl., New York, NY 10003.

CAREER: Writer and journalist. Sports Illustrated, New York, NY, staff writer, 1988–91, senior writer, 1991–.

AWARDS, HONORS: Publishers Weekly named Road Swing one of the best books of 1998; National Magazine Award, four-time nominee.

WRITINGS:

(With Chuck Wielgus and Alexander Wolff) From A-Train to Yogi: The Fan's Book of Sports Nicknames, Perennial Library (New York, NY), 1987.

Pool Cool, Pocket Books (New York, NY), 1990.

Road Swing, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1998.

The Caddie Was a Reindeer and Other Tales of Extreme Recreation, Atlantic Monthly Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to anthologies and to magazines and newspapers, including Entertainment Weekly and New York Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Writer and magazine journalist Steve Rushin is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated. When he achieved that position in 1991, he was just three years out of college and the youngest senior writer in the magazine's history. Since then, he has been a four-time finalist for the prestigious National Magazine Award.

Road Swing is a travelogue, of sorts, a collection of essays chronicling Rushin's cross-country trip to significant sports locations throughout the United States. Covering more than 24,000 miles and some of the most famous sites in sports, Rushin visits locations such as the Field of Dreams in Iowa; French Lick, Indiana, the hometown of basketball legend Larry Bird; the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York; and other spots sacred to the sports enthusiast. He visits Cleveland, Ohio, where the Browns once played; St. Louis, Missouri, where a monster truck rally roars; and the Pennsylvania town that houses the tomb of pioneer sports star Jim Thorpe. Rushin, observed a Publishers Weekly reviewer, is "amazingly adept at wandering aimlessly without losing direction." Library Journal contributor Jim G. Burns called the book "a fun read," while the Publishers Weekly contributor called it "a literary home run from … one of the most agile essayists around."

The Caddie Was a Reindeer and Other Tales of Extreme Recreation is a book that a Kirkus Reviews critic called a collection of "wry essays on sport and its enthusiasts by an agile writer … who's likely to discern the human-interest story behind the statistics." The book contains twenty-four essays that originally appeared in the "Air and Space" column in Sports Illustrated. Rushin focuses his attention on a variety of unusual events, such as a competitive eating contest, a high-stakes darts championship, a group of roller-coaster enthusiasts who ride for days on end, and a golf championship for amputees. He also visits unique locations, such as Germany's most dangerous racetrack, the Nurburgring track declared too dangerous for Formula One racing; Nagano, Japan, site of the 1998 winter Olympics; and the Topps sports card company. He even addresses the legendary rivalry between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Booklist reviewer Wes Lukowsky called Rushin's work "imaginative, quirky, and insightful."