Rodman Library Hosts Author and Sports Broadcaster Jim Clark

Akron native, Jim Clark, author of “Rally ‘Round Cleveland: The Story of the 1974 Franchise-Saving Cleveland Indians,” will be speaking on Monday, Apr. 29, at 7 p.m., in Rodman Library Auditorium. Clark is a life-long Indians fan. He has been the radio voice of the Canton-Akron Indians, Akron Aeros and Akron RubberDucks since 1990. This season will be his 27th behind the mic. He served as the Sports Information Director at Walsh University for 33 years and was honored for his publications over 45 times. He has worked at many radio stations in Akron and Canton since entering the business in 1979, as well as doing extensive television play-by-play. Clark currently broadcasts sports for Spectrum, Akron Public Schools and the University of Mount Union. This past March, he broadcast the Indians/San Diego exhibition game from Goodyear, Arizona. In a forward from Bob DiBiasio, Vice President of the Cleveland Indians, he states, “That for the author, broadcaster and life-long Indians fan Jim Clark, 1974 was a season he believes re-ignited Cleveland’s love affair with its baseball team. Clark takes us on a day-to-day journey of 1974 – a season that saw attendance rise from 605,000 in 1973 to more than 1.1 million. 1974 was also the season of the infamous Beer Night and Clark shares interesting insights of that evening from Hall of Fame Broadcaster Joe Tait and Mike Hargrove (who played first base for the Texas Rangers that night.) Names of the past are brought back to life with passion and detail from an author who truly bleeds Indians Baseball. It is a story on how a city once again found its baseball team.” Terry Pluto, author of “The Curse of Rocky Colavito,” writes, “For people of a certain age who love the Indians, there is a team that is special to them… for some, it was the 1974 Indians. The names John Ellis, Gaylord Perry, Leron Lee, Beer Night, Charlie Spikes… if some of those names bring a smile to your face, this book is for you.” Clark currently resides in Canton, Ohio, with his wife, Michele, and sons Brook and Austin. This program is free and open to the public. No registration is needed. Books will be available for purchase at the time of the program that the author will then sign. For more information, call the Main Library at 330-821-2665, ext. 107.