September 23, 1999

New book a must for Browns fans

The adage that suggests timing is everything is not lost on John Keim.

Keim, a native of Lakewood who has covered the Washington Redskins since 1994 for the Journal Newspapers, recently published his third book, titled Legends by the Lake: The Cleveland Browns at Municipal Stadium.

The fact that the book was released just before the return of the new Cleveland Browns shows impeccable timing. But the more important aspect of timing for Keim in his third book was the three-year absence of the Browns on the lakefront.

Fact is, the book probably took that long to research. It is just that extensive.

Legends by the Lake is not a book in the traditional sense. The fact that Keim is a newspaper man shows not only in the book's format, but in the writing itself.

Rather than presenting a drab chapter-by-chapter analysis of the Browns history, Keim instead scribes feature stories about players, incidents and memorable games contested at the old stadium.

That is to say each chapter is akin to a newspaper feature, whether it be on Jim Brown, Paul Brown, Bernie Kosar, or the Browns' "Silent Night" loss to the Raiders in the 1980 playoffs.

Being a newspaper man myself, I like this. I not only favor the format, but I can appreciate the research it takes just to write one feature story, let alone the 47 that appear in Keim's book.

There's the typical ones you would figure to be covered. There's stories on Jim Brown, Bernie Kosar, The Dawg Pound and The Drive -- all the old standbys.

But some of my favorite are from the old days. The stories of Frank Gatski, Jim Ray Smith, Len Ford and Bill Willis, to name a few.

Sure, it is fun to read about the Kosars and Ozzie Newsomes, but that is history I lived to see. Reading the stories about the Gatskis and Fords made me appreciate the roots of the Browns' history.

Those men that shaped the franchise into one of the best in professional football.

Hearing those players' tales also makes the reader truly understand what kind of a blue-collar history the Browns franchise has.

It seems as though every player has his own tall tale about how he grew up working in the coal mines, or walking five miles during the winter to get to work.

All of theses stories are researched to the fullest. Keim not only interviewed the players, but the sportswriters and sportscasters that covered them. He interviewed parents, former teammates and assistant coaches.

This book was thought out to the fullest, and is absolutely a must for Browns' fans everywhere. For young fans like myself it is an educational experience. For older Browns' fans, it should be a wonderful walk down memory lane.

To order Legends by the Lake call 1-877-827-7377 or send $17.95 (paper) or $35.95 (cloth) to The University of Akron Press at 3748 Bierce Library, Akron, Ohio, 44325-1703.