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Haygood Discusses His New Book On East High School Athletics In The Sixties

stylemagazine.com

Columbus native and nationally acclaimed author Wil Haygood's latest book chronicles East High School's pursuit of basketball and baseball state championships in 1969. 

The book entitiled 'Tigerland' focuses on the school's athletic and academic accomplishments in spite of high racial tensions prompted by the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Junior. Haygood spoke this week at a Wexner Center for the Arts forum, sharing when he first told his editor about the idea. 

Paul Pennell was an assistant basketball coach and the head baseball coach at East High School at that time. Pennell credited the students, faculty and school leadership for overcoming the challenges.    

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Haygood refers to his book as literary justice for those kids. He think the story of East High School's triumph in dark times will inspire today's citizenry as well. 

Mike Foley joined WCBE in February 2000, coming from WUFT in Gainesville, Florida. Foley has worked in various roles, from producing news and feature stories to engineering Live From Studio A sessions. A series of music features Foley started in 2018 called Music Journeys has grown into a podcast and radio show. He also assists in developing other programs in WCBE's Podcast Experience. Foley hosts The Morning Mix, a weekday music show featuring emerging and established musicians, our Columbus-area and Ohio-based talent, and additional artists that inspire him.
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