Author Talk: Amy Bass

This event is past.

  • Mar 12, 2018

On Mon. evening, March 12th at 6:oo PM, LPL will be hosting professor, journalist, and Bates College graduate Amy Bass for a talk and reading from her latest book, One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together. The talk and reading will be followed by a Q&A along with a book sale and signing.

In One Goal, Amy Bass tells the now nationally-famous story of how the longtime Lewiston community and its newly arrived Somali immigrants came together on the soccer field to chase dreams of national glory. As Bass explains, when tensions between the New Mainer community and longtime residents ran high, perhaps nowhere was this more apparent than on the high school soccer team, the Lewiston Blue Devils.  As immigrant kids joined the team, they had to tackle language and cultural barriers while dealing with openly racist hostility on the streets of their new home.  But behind the tumult and unease, the team, made up of both longtime locals and Somali immigrants and led by longtime coach Mike McGraw, honed their plays and their teamwork to build a powerhouse with one goal: the first state soccer championship in Lewiston history.

Mary Carillo, analyst with NBC Sports, wrote: “One Goal has made me feel optimistic about the country I live in. The vibrant, colorful and courageous characters will make you smile.  The coach of the Blue Devils, Mike McGraw, is the kind of man you wish your own kids could learn from- and he teaches a lot more than soccer. One Goal is about so much more than sports. It illustrates how powerful and transcendent teamwork and community can be.”

Bass is a professor of history at The College of New Rochelle in New York, and is a graduate of Bates College. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Salon, and CNN Opinion, and her work for NBC’s Olympics coverage earned her an Emmy in 2012 for Outstanding Live Event Turnaround. One Goal is her fourth book.

Copies of the new book will be available for sale at the event and a book signing will follow her talk. For more information, contact the LPL Adult & Teen Services desk at 513-3135 or LPLReference@Gmail.com.