Father on the Line

From the time he was old enough to remember, Jim Hock was told stories of his dad's glory days playing football in LA. A member of the 1950s LA Rams, John Hock, Jim's dad, was a member of Hollywood's Team, a football team that redefined what a sports team looked like, sounded like, and acted like, all while revolutionizing the sport of football.

But Jim didn't know John the football star, he just knew the sweet, funny guy he called Dad. In a warm and aching memoir of childhood, good dad's, and what it is to realize that your parents had a life and successes before you came along.

Jim Hock is the son of the late Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman John Hock. Jim served as chief of staff to the US Secretary of Commerce, spokesman for a US Senator, and was the founder of a communications firm. He is the youngest of seven kids, played football in college, and worked as a Los Angeles Rams intern. He lives with his family outside of Washington, DC. His first book, Hollywood's Team came out in 2016.

Michael Downs, a former sportswriter, is the author of House of Good Hope: A Promise for a Broken City and The Greatest Show: Stories, and winner of the River Teeth Literary Nonfiction Prize.