Lonnie Wheeler

Lonnie Morrison Wheeler (March 27, 1952 – June 9, 2020) was an American sportswriter, author, and biographer who wrote primarily on baseball. He worked for The Cincinnati Enquirer and The Cincinnati Post.

Lonnie Wheeler
Born(1952-03-27)March 27, 1952
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
DiedJune 9, 2020(2020-06-09) (aged 68)
Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
OccupationSportswriter, Biographer, Author
Alma materUniversity of Missouri (BA)
Notable worksI Had a Hammer (1991)
Stranger to the Game (1994)
SpouseMartie Kuhl
Children3

Wheeler was the author of twelve books, and was known for being the co-author of the autobiographies of Baseball Hall of Famers Henry Aaron and Bob Gibson.[1]

Early life

Wheeler was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Naomi (née Epstein) and Leon Wheeler. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in journalism.[1]

Career

Wheeler was a sportswriter for The Cincinnati Enquirer in the 1970s and also wrote for The Cincinnati Post and USA Today.[1]

He was the author of twelve books, notably co-writing the autobiography of Henry Aaron, entitled I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story, and of Bob Gibson, entitled Stranger to the Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson. He also co-wrote the autobiography of former Mayor of Detroit, Coleman Young.[2]

Wheeler was the author of a biography on Negro league star and Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell, entitled The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell: Speed, Grace, and the Negro Leagues, and has also written books on college football and college basketball teams.[1]

Four of his books have been nominated for the Casey Award four times: The Cincinnati Game (with John Baskin) and Bleachers in 1988, I Had A Hammer (with Henry Aaron) in 1991, and The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell in 2021.[3]

In 2022, Wheeler was posthumously inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Journalism Hall of Fame.[4]

Personal life

Wheeler and his wife Martie (née Kuhl) had three children together: Abby, Clark, and Emily. He died of cardiac arrest on June 9, 2020 and was survived by his wife, children, and one grandchild.[5]

Bibliography

Biographies

  • I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story (with Hank Aaron) (1991)
  • Stranger to The Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson (with Bob Gibson) (1994)
  • Street Soldier: One Man's Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time (with Joseph Marshall) (2000)
  • Long Shot (with Mike Piazza) (2013)
  • Hard Stuff: The Autobiography of Mayor Coleman Young (with Coleman Young) (2015)
  • The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell: Speed, Grace, and the Negro Leagues (2021)

Miscellaneous

  • Bleachers: A Summer in Wrigley (1988)
  • The Cincinnati Game (with John Baskin) (1988)
  • Blue Yonder: Kentucky, The United State of Basketball (1998)
  • Schoolboy Legends: A Hundred Years of Cincinnati's Most Storied High School Football Players (with John Baskin) (2009)
  • Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk About How the Game Is Played (with Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson) (2009)
  • Intangiball: The Subtle Things That Win Baseball Games (2015)
  • Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game (with Bob Gibson) (2015)

References

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