Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 7/1/2007

CANADA DAY
7/1/1945:
Discharged from the army two weeks ago after nearly four years of military service, Hammerin' Hank Greenberg plays left field and homers on his fifth at bat as the Tigers sweep the A's in a doubleheader at Briggs Stadium. He'll go on to hit .311 in 78 games with 13 homers and 60 RBIs, greatly helping the Tigers to win the pennant and the World Series.

Birthdays:
Rod Gilbert b. 1941
Mike Haynes b. 1953
Nancy Lieberman b. 1958
Carl Lewis b. 1961
Jarome Iginla b. 1977

LITERARY FICTION

Taut, muscular writing. A simple, dramatic plot. Strong, memorable characters. Novelist Moore delivered a powerhouse novel in his now classic story of Father Laforgue, a Jesuit missionary to 17thcentury Canada. The deeper Laforgue goes into the wilderness, the more blurred the lines become between good and evil, faith and despair, and savage and civilized. Black Robe is the North American Heart of Darkness.

BLACK ROBE, by Brian Moore (1985; Plume, 1997)