True Gris: The Best of Ed Grisamore

There's a great big world beyond the outfield fence. In his first book, True Gris, Ed Grisamore takes you not only between the white lines but also over the wall.Using the rich detail and warm humor that has made him a popular and well-respected columnist for The Macon Telegraph, Grisamore touches all the bases -- from fatherhood to fishing to toe floss to finding your heart. Let's remember that our blessings count more than the score of some game, he writes.True Gris is your ticket to many wonderful places, and you'll have the best seat in the house. You'll travel to Jackie Robinson's birthplace, down the hill with an Olympic bobsledder, and into a crime-ridden housing project in New Orleans. You'll take a trip to Santa's lap, watch the University of Georgia bulldog mascot put on his game face, and you'll get the view from a hearse.Grisamore will touch your heart with pieces of his own. In Fathers Need Guardian Angels he writes about his three-year-old son crashing his dad's truck into a tree in the backyard. In the poignant Being There Can Make a Difference he talks about mentoring a young boy from a single-parent family. He writes about finding his doll named Pearl tucked away in a drawer and hits an emotional home run with Let the Tears Flow, the Braves are Champs.You'll meet a Macon man who puts clever sayings on the sign outside his sandwich shop. You'll be introduced to Jim Tyler and Herman Strickland, who teach us that it's not how old you are but how you are old. You'll learn about the 12-year-old batboy who once pinch-hit in a minor-league game and made baseball history. In Life on the Mourning Bench, you'll find out why men simply hate to shop withwomen.He will tickle your funny bone with Questions in Search of Answers and the tale/tail of a fish that tried to eat a golf ball -- a column that generated so much national interest it was mentioned on NBC's Today show.True Gris will carry you from the joys of childhood to the simple pleasures of growing old. Words are the most important tools we have here on earth, Grisamore writes. What we say, what we write, and what we read determine who we are and what we become.