Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 11/1/2007

11/1/1959:
The Cleveland Browns outscore the world champion Baltimore Colts, 38-31, in the first meeting between NFL immortals Jim Brown of Cleveland and Johnny Unitas of the Colts. Brown scores five touchdowns while rushing for 178 yards on 32 carries. Unitas counters with a 23-41 (397) day and four touchdown passes, but two interceptions by Junior Wren halt two Baltimore drives and give the game to the Browns.

Birthdays:
Vic Power b. 1931
Gary Player b. 1935
"Jumping Joe" Caldwell b. 1941
Ted Hendricks b. 1947
Fernando Valenzuela b. 1960

House Made of Dawn took the literary world by storm. Momaday was an unknown painter and poet, an American Indian (of Kiowa ancestry), when the book—his first novel—was published. Critics, readers, and prize committees went wild for it. The New York Times Book Review called it “superb,” and it was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. The moving story of a father and son, House Made of Dawn has become a classic of American literature.

HOUSE MADE OF DAWN, by N. Scott Momaday (1968; HarperPerennial Classics, 1999)