The story of how Fred Bowen came to write sport stories for intermediate and middle school readers is really a story of his metamorphosis from a career as a government attorney. On his everyday commute from his Silver Springs, Maryland, home to his office, where he read law books and wrote briefs, he gradually began to think about writing of a different sort. At first he wrote movie reviews as a free-lance writer, but eventually his love of sports won out. In the late 1980s, during his commutes and over his lunch hours, Bowen began to write about sports.

His first efforts resulted in a manuscript for a young adult sports book. But the story didn't work, so he drafted another book. When he had what he felt was a viable manuscript, he began to submit to agents and publishers. He got back positive comments but no contract for publication.

One day, Bowen's son, Liam, read the manuscript and told his father, "You know, Dad, you need more games in this book." Fred took Liam's comment to heart. Taking a week off from his job, he rewrote the manuscript, including more play-by-play action. It seemed to invigorate the manuscript.

In the fall of 1994, Bowen's wife, Peggy Jackson, persuaded him to attend a librarians' conference in nearby Baltimore. There Jackson chanced to meet Pat Quinlin, who just happened to be the sister of the president of PeachTree Publishers, Margaret Quinlin. Learning of Bowen's manuscript, Quinlin suggested he send it to PeachTree. The chain of events brought about the publication of T.J.'s Secret Pitch (1996), the first book in the AllStar SportStory series.

Born and raised in Marblehead, Massachusetts, Bowen loved sports from early childhood. He was the sixth of seven children in what he calls "an Irish Catholic sports-crazy family." He learned very early to say, "Go, Red Sox." At six years of age, he was a batboy for his big brother Rich's Little League team. As a second grader, he says, "My ambition was to be a second baseman for the Boston Red Sox." As a fifth grader in the 1960s, he was playing Little League baseball and Midget football. At night when he was supposed to be sleeping, he read the Chip Hilton series by flashlight. In the classroom, when he was supposed to be studying, he would sneak a look at a few lines of one of the books he was reading. But his sports career ended in high school. He did not make the teams.

He headed for college, obtaining a degree in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from George Washington University. "In 1975, I was studying for my law classes and listening to the World Series," he recalls. "The Cincinnati Reds were playing the Boston Red Sox and Carlton Fisk hit a home run. It became painfully obvious that I cared a lot more for baseball than the studying I was doing."

Completing his law degree, Bowen traveled a career path route that took him to the offices of the U.S. Department&of Labor. He is still an attorney, but writing has put his career on a dual track. On April 14, 2000, the first installment of his weekly "Kids' Sport" column was published in the Washington Post, and in the fall of 2000 PeachTree released the ninth title, Winners Take All, in his AllStar SportStory series. Bowen is quickly becoming one of today's most popular sports fiction writers.

As a writer of sports stories, Bowen says he gets "to relive games I watched as a kid or heard about from my dad, or read about in newspapers or books." His stories always include an element of sports history. He feels that "children should learn about the sports they play.... Through the years, I've collected a lot of baseball knowledge--quirky facts, player trivia and historical dates--without even trying." These "quirky facts," trivia, and bits of history have inspired each of the titles in Bowen's series.

Both of Bowen's children, Liam and Kerry, enjoy sports, and Fred has often coached their teams. Listening to game bench conversations gives authenticity to the dialog in his stories. He uses the names of actual children in the neighborhood or of fans who write him. Even a librarian at Bethesda Regional Library, Diane Monnier, has made an appearance in one of his tales. (She's a referee on page 36 of The Final Cut.)

Bowen writes his stories longhand. "At lunch time," he says, "I get out my sandwich and begin to write." Peggy, his wife, types his writing and serves as the book's first reader and editor. Both she and Bowen work with the publisher to get the book into its final form and into the hands of readers. So far, all of Bowen's books have been published by PeachTree Publishers.

Each of Fred Bowen's nine tales includes a nugget of history and a bonus historical chapter. Four of his books have been about basketball. The Final Cut (1999) incorporated information about several well-known players such as Michael Jordan, who did not make their high school basketball team on the first try. In the 1960s, the UCLA men's basketball team used a successful full court press to compensate for the team's lack of size. In Full Court Fever (1998), the players on a too-small basketball team locate an old Sports Illustrated magazine story about the UCLA defensive and use it to their own advantage. Other characters utilize historical techniques to help their teams. In On the Line (1999), Marcus risks looking silly by using the "granny shot" made famous by NBA star Rick Barry. Off the Rim (1998) features information about the six-on-six girls' basketball game played in Iowa until 1993.

Bowen's other five titles deal with baseball. History about the evolution of the glove and Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, who used a glove with no web and no pocket, inspired The Golden Glove, (1996), a story of Jamie, who loses his lucky glove and his confidence in his own abilities. The legacy of player-coaches such as Cleveland Indians' Lou Boudreau finds its way into The Kid Coach (1997), while Ernie Banks's legacy is woven into Playoff Dreams (1997). Ernie Banks, as a player for the Chicago Cubs, set a record for playing the most major league ball games without ever being on a team that made it to the playoffs or to the World Series. In T.J.'s Secret Pitch (1996), Bowen uses the "eephus" pitch as a writing hook to give the smallest player on the team an edge as a pitcher. The "eephus" pitch, sometimes called a blooper, was created by Rip Sewell to compensate for a physical disability.

In Winners Take All (2000), Bowen's most recent novel, the theme is honesty and what it takes to be a real winner. The story was inspired by real-life pitcher Christopher "Christy" Matthewson, who was so honest that umpires often asked him to call a play. Matthewson was one of the first five players to be inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Fred Bowen himself has participated in several programs at the museum and has been given a life membership--a boyhood dream come true for the man who still dreams of baseball and basketball.

With the debut of the "KidsPost" weekly sports column, Fred Bowen now has another venue for sharing his love of sports with young readers. Bowen's columns can be read online at <http://washingtonpost.com/kidspost>. Most Fridays the column will be on the front page of this site. Other days, after reaching the "KidsPost" page, users will need to click on the "features" banner, then on "sports," where archived columns can be located.

Fred Bowen can be reached at KidsPost, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, DC 20071, or by e-mail at <sportstory@aol.com>. Readers who would like to read more about Fred Bowen's books might check PeachTree Publisher's web site at <http://www.peachtreeonline.com/> or Fred's own site at <http://www.fredbowen.com>.

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By Sharron L. McElmeel

Sharron L. McElmeel writes frequently about authors and illustrators. Her latest titles, 100 Most Popular Children's Authors (1999) and 100 Most Popular Picture Book Authors and Illustrators (2000), were published by Libraries Unlimited. She maintains a Web site at <www.mcelmeel.com>.