Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 11/04/2007

11/4/1945:
Ellsworth Vines, who won the U.S. men's singles tennis title in 1931 and '32, wins the Southern California golf title by carding a 213 for the 54-hole tournament at Los Angeles. Having put away his rackets and become the golf pro at the Denver Country Club, the former tennis star drives the ball with distance and accuracy, leading to the winner's check in today's event.

Birthdays:
Dick Groat b. 1930
Steve Mariucci b. 1955
Eric Karros b. 1967
Carlos Baerga b. 1968
Orlando Pace b. 1975

Two new memoirs unmask the life of a top food critic for The New York Times. Life isn’t all champagne and caviar for these intrepid reporters. Amid the four-star meals are elaborate disguises, dubious assignments, and temperamental chefs. Sheraton’s memoir serves as a history as well (she was the critic for The New York Times in the ’60s and ’70s); Reichl’s book is mostly about Reichl (as all of her books seem to be), but she’s so lovely a writer and interesting a character, it works.

	EATING MY WORDS: AN APPETITE FOR LIFE, by Mimi Sheraton (HarperPerennial, 2006)
	GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES: THE SECRET LIFE OF A CRITIC IN DISGUISE, by Ruth Reichl (Penguin, 2006)