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A look back at my media and podcast appearances in 2020
By Dan Wakefield on December 23, 2020 in Articles, Local
As the year comes to a close, I invite all of you to join me and look back at my 2020 media and podcast appearances. Thank you all for your continued support, and here's to a (hopefully) better new year.
WTHR – Emmett Till and Today's Attitudes
In the wake of George Floyd's murder and the widespread protests that ensued, WTHR reached out to me because of my coverage of the Emmett Till murder trial 65 years ago.
You can watch the interview and read the article on WTHR's website here.
Naptown Podcast with Susan Neville
In this 10-episode series of interviews conducted at Butler University's Irwin Library and on my front porch on Northview Avenue in Indianapolis, Susan Neville and I about my life and working as a writer from the 1950s on.
Still Left Out in America
I spoke with Pat LaMarche on the Still Left Out in America podcast, a part of the Charles Bruce Foundation. We talk about the Emmet Till murder trial, writing, and times with Kurt Vonnegut.
We couldn't record any new shows year at the Red Key or Jazz Kitchen, but you can listen to past episodes of Uncle Dan's Story Hour and the Uncle Dan and Sophie Jam on my podcast, available on PodBean and Apple Podcasts.
The unlikely Miami Heat fan who lives in Celtics' Brad Stevens' old Indianapolis house
By Dan Wakefield on September 25, 2020 in Articles, Local
Author Dan Wakefield watches — from the house Celtics coach Brad Stevens once rented — as his Miami Heat take a 3-1 series lead over the Celtics Wednesday. Photo by Jake Query.
Written by: Dana Hunsinger Benbow, Indianapolis Star
INDIANAPOLIS — Dan Wakefield sits in his living room, actually, a lot of the time he stands, paces and then drops to his knees when a bucket falls in for the Miami Heat. Sometimes, he has to lean on the mantle over his fireplace when the game gets too intense.
He wears a Miami jersey or T-shirt, eats pizza, drinks Coke Zero and is cheering as fiercely as anyone for the Heat to cream the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
And he's doing it inside Celtics coach Brad Stevens' old house.
Wakefield, 88, took his usual spot Wednesday inside his home on Northview Avenue as the Heat took a 3-1 lead, much to his delight. He's been rooting for the team since 1995 when he moved to Miami to teach at Florida International University's graduate writing program.
The author of five novels and 11 nonfiction books, Wakefield is an Indianapolis native and acclaimed writer. He was one of Kurt Vonnegut's best friends and went to high school with Richard Lugar.
His best-selling book, "Going All The Way," about coming of age in Indianapolis was made into a movie. So was Wakefield's 1973 novel, "Starting Over," starring Burt Reynolds.
But his wordsmithing, Wakefield said, only began because he loved basketball and was too slow to play.
So, he started writing about the sport. And then he made a career of writing, leaving Indianapolis for 57 years, and spending nearly 15 of those in Miami through the team's heyday in the late 1990s into the 2000s…
Continue Reading on IndyStar.com
My appearance on the Still Left Out in America podcast
By Dan Wakefield on September 23, 2020 in Uncategorized
I spoke with Pat LaMarche on the Still Left Out in America podcast, a part of the Charles Bruce Foundation. We talk about the Emmet Till murder trial, writing, and times with Kurt Vonnegut. You can watch the full 45-minute piece here:
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- Madeline L'Engle, Author of A Wrinkle in Time
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