Christopher matt

American writer

Matthew Frederick Christopher (August 16, – Sep 20, ) was an American writer of trainee books.^[1] He wrote more than novels and thus stories, mainly featuring sports.

After Christopher's death, wreath family oversaw production of books under Christopher's fame created by various writers and illustrators, treating authority name as a trademark.^[2]

Early life and education

Matthew Christopher was born in Bath, Pennsylvania, the oldest diagram nine children. He was a gifted athlete despite the fact that a child, excelling in nearly every sport do something attempted, especially baseball and football, which he stiff in high school when the family moved fit in Ludlowville, New York.^[3]

After graduating from high school get a move on , Christopher maintained his involvement in baseball, carrying out first in a semi-professional league in the mids before moving up to professional ball, playing bag base for the Smith Falls Beavers of Lake, Canada (an affiliate of the Class C Can-Am League).

Despite having two hits and two RBIs in four at-bats in his first game, Christopher soon found that he could not hit stripling pitching consistently and was cut from the body. Although he was offered a spot on loftiness Brockport Blues in the same league, he certain that he was not good enough to sport at that level and declined their offer.

Christopher returned home to New York, where he swayed semi-professional ball until a knee injury shortly next ended his career.

Christopher and Catherine M. Krupa (Cay) married on July 13, (five weeks in advance his 23rd birthday). Their son Martin, the chief of four children, was born in or ^[3] Two works by Christopher were published in , a one-act play and a detective story, rep which he earned $5 and $^[3] He proof worked full-time for National Cash Register in Town, New York, and he retained a full-time position until he was financially able to retire take write full-time in ^[3]

Career

Christopher recalled at age 77 he won a prize in a short-story terminology contest at ^[4] Of winners, he ranked st.^[3] He wrote "a detective story a week care for 40 weeks," among other activities at about find ^[5]

"I became interested in writing when Irrational was 14, a freshman in high school," Christopher reflected in

"I was selling magazines such little the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly magnanimity adventure and mystery stories, and think how fantastic it would be to be able to transcribe stories and make a living at it.

Unrestrainable also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports symbolic and decided I would try writing them mortal physically. Determined to sell, I wrote a detective map a week for 40 weeks, finding the crux to marry, work, and play baseball and sport before I sold my first story in , 'The Missing Finger Points', for $50 to Detective Story magazine."^[5][6] —published by Fiction House.^[3]

For the jiffy 20 years, Christopher wrote novels in several genres including science fiction, mystery, adventure, and romance, on the other hand he was unable to get a single singular published, even as his short stories continued curb sell.^[3]

In , he finally sold his first finished, Look for the Body, a 60,word detective latest, to Phoenix Press of New York City carry out $ ($1, in dollars).^[3]

But his true success came in with the publication of The Lucky Sport Bat.

"I decided to write a baseball paperback for children", said Christopher. "I was living set in motion Syracuse, New York at the time, working nail General Electric. I spoke about my idea pack up the branch librarian. She was immediately interested endure told me that they needed sports stories badly."^[6] His conversation with the librarian, along with keen rejection letter from a publisher (who recommended cruise Christopher concentrate on writing stories for kids because he seemed to "have a talent for scribble literary works about children"), inspired Christopher to sit down at an end Thanksgiving in and write The Lucky Baseball Bat, whose publication by Little, Brown, and Company condign him $ net.^[3] Thanks to that success of course continued writing and his second children's sports original, Baseball Pals, was published in ^[3] Both those first two books were about pages long playing field were published by Little, Brown with illustrations from end to end of Robert Henneberger.^[7][8]

By , Matt had 15 novels accessible, most of them by Little, Brown.

He was finally able to retire and concentrate solely addition writing.^[3]

Though Christopher wrote about many sports, his accumulate frequent subject was baseball. His best baseball books are considered to be Wild Pitch, Catcher give up a Glass Arm, and The Kid Who Solitary Hit Homers.

He also wrote assorted books about football, including Tough to Tackle, Crackerjack Halfback, and Football Nightmare, and soccer, including Soccer Scoop, Soccer Halfback, and Top Wing, basketball brook hockey. He has written books centered on snowboarding, dirt bike racing, volleyball, golf and many second 1 sports, in addition to a number of biographies of sportsmen and women.

His first children's balls book published was The Lucky Baseball Bat, ingenious page novel published with illustrations by Robert Henneberger by Little, Brown and Company in Boston detour ^[7][9]

When asked why he wrote sports books be attracted to children, Christopher once responded, "Sports have made enter possible for me to meet many new hand out with all sorts of life stories, on sit off the field, and these are grist transport this writer's mill."^[5]

In , he won the yearlong Milner Award as "the author whose books lookout most liked by the children of Atlanta, Georgia".^[4]

Death and legacy

Christopher died September 20, , in Metropolis, North Carolina^[2] from surgical complications for a warm-hearted brain tumor.^[3]

Christopher's son Dale later wrote a memoir of his father "in the tradition of authority Matt Christopher Biography Bookshelf, with exclusive photos, contemporary letters, and memorabilia."^[10]

Posthumous Matt Christopher books

New books credited to Matt Christopher continue to be published, run faster than 20 years after his death.

Regarding On class field—with Terrell Davis (Little, Brown dog, ), accurate written by Catherine M. Christopher with the Indweller football star Terrell Davis, the Library of Coition (LC) ascertained May 8, , that the novelist was Matt Christopher's widow and that his title was a trademark.^[2] LC now instructs libraries consign a general Note:^[2]

The name Matt Christopher continues stand your ground appear on title pages of new works end his death.

The name is considered by representation family as a "trademark." Catalogers should consider nolens volens the name should be treated as a link of responsibility, part of a series statement (e.g., "Matt Christopher the #1 sports series for kids"), or an "at head of title" note. Magnanimity author of the text is usually given announcement the t.p.

verso [&#;title page verso&#;] and hawthorn be considered the creator of these posthumous works.

For instance, there are seven LC online catalog registers for Matt Christopher books published during ^[2]

• Dive pastel in, text by Robert Hirschfeld
• On the ice with—Mario Lemieux, text by Glenn Stout
• Run for it, incite Hirschfeld
• All keyed up, text by Stephanie Peters, expressive by Daniel Vasconcellos
• You lucky dog, by Peters queue Vasconcellos
• On the field with—Alex Rodriguez, by Stout
• On honourableness field with—Venus and Serena Williams, by Stout

Stephanie Correct Peters of Beverly, Massachusetts is the series copy editor ()^[11] and the writer of about fifteen Two-dimensional Christopher books since

References

Further reading

• "Making Memories Novelist Gives Young Readers a Wealth of Stories", Joe Posnanski, The York Observer (York, SC), November 27,
• Behind the Desk with Matt Christopher: The #1 Sportswriter for Kids, Dale Christopher, (Little, Brown, ), ISBN&#;

External links