Earlier Posts
April 25, 2024-- Larry thanks everyone who turned out for his talk at this year's A Day with Northwestern event last Saturday. An overflow crowd required that NU move the session to the Norris Center's Louis Room, where Larry and Northwestern University historian Kevin Leonard discussed Larry's book Gus Hornsby's Gamble, early NU history, and how nineteenth-century "first wave" feminism tied into early American football in Chicago.
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This was the second of two lectures about Hornsby and Larry's biography. It is possible that one or two additional events might be slated for later this summer. Stay tuned!
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Northwestern University Historian Kevin Leonard (left) poses before the session with Barbara Hague and Larry LaTourette. Barbara was the first editor to help with the manuscript for Gus Hornsby's Gamble.
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Next Hornsby Lecture: April 20
at Northwestern University
March 9, 2024-- Back in the 2010s, Larry was the chair of A Day with Northwestern, Northwestern's annual day-long event that draws in hundreds of university alumni and community members for a full slate of presentations and lectures by Northwestern faculty and alumni. This spring, for the first time, Larry will present at the event.
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Larry will co-present "Gus Hornsby and the Birth of Northwestern Football" with Northwestern University Archivist and Historian Kevin Leonard in the late afternoon sessions at the 2024 A Day with Northwestern event in Evanston, Illinois, on Saturday, April 20.
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This lecture is the second in a limited series geared to discuss the people and landmark moments described in Gus Hornsby's Gamble. This presentation will focus more on Northwestern's role in the book and the importance of the school's first football team in the history of the sport.
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You can find more information about this year's A Day with Northwestern showcase by clicking here.
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Feb. 1, 2024-- Thank you to everyone who joined Larry on the evening of January 31 at the Lake Villa, Illinois, District Library for a discussion about his book Gus Hornsby's Gamble, the birth of American football in the Midwest, and the connections between Hornsby's football team and the "first-wave" American feminist movement of the nineteenth century.
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This was the first in a limited series of events geared to discuss the people and landmark moments described in Gus Hornsby's Gamble. The next event will be in mid-April.
Hornsby a Chicago
Public Library
Staff Pick
Oct. 15, 2023-- Gus Hornsby's Gamble has been named a Chicago Public Library Staff Pick for October 2023's Recent Chicago Books!
September 15, 2023-- Thanks to all the Facebook friends so far who have posted their photos of (and with!) their early copies of Larry's new book, Gus Hornsby's Gamble!
Gus Hornsby's Gamble:
Book Launch!
July 6, 2023-- Gus Hornsby's Gamble is now available in paperback and e-book form. After two years of research, another year delayed due to COVID, and a further year shopping the book, Larry LaTourette's story of the man who brought football to the Midwest is now in stores.
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Hornsby is the true story of the man who founded Chicago's first football team and the men and women at the pivotal first game in the Midwest in 1876.
You can watch a six-minute video introducing the book on the Gus Hornsby's Gamble page.
Gus Hornsby's Gamble:
Book Unboxing
June 27, 2023-- While we're still a couple of days away from the official launch of Gus Hornsby's Gamble on Barnes & Noble and Amazon, the author's copies have arrived from the publisher. Here is the requisite unboxing video to celebrate:
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New Book Project, "Florence,"
Kicks off
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Jan. 5, 2023-- Happy new year! 2022 was a productive year for Larry: Gus Hornsby's Gamble found a home with McFarland Publishing, and he finished the (still untitled) first book in his Orache Pearl fantasy trilogy. While McFarland works to release Hornsby later this year and the Orache book is being shopped around, Larry has kicked off a new writing project.
Rather than dig into a second Orache book, he has taken a new direction, beginning research for a project titled Florence. Florence will be an adult novel, bridging historical and literary fiction. You can track his progress on this project by clicking here. Larry expects the first draft of Florence to be ready by the end of the year.
Gus Hornsby's Gamble:
Cover reveaL
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Oct. 1, 2022-- McFarland Publishing has released the first look at the cover for Gus Hornsby's Gamble, set for release in 2023:
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The publisher's art department hit this one out of the park! It's elegant, and it captures the mystery that surrounds Gus Hornsby.
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hornsby bio: title reveaL
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July 18, 2022-- The upcoming biography of Gus Hornsby now has an official title, and McFarland Publishing will soon put the book on its lists of upcoming releases. View the promo video below to see the final title for the book:
BOOK DEAL!
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July 11, 2022-- Larry's biography of football pioneer Gus Hornsby has been purchased by:
McFarland Publishing is a leading independent publisher of academic books, covering popular topics in a serious fashion, and manufacturing books to high library standards.
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McFarland will publish the biography in 2023. Stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for more info, including the announcement of the final title of the book, coming on July 18.