David Nemec
Encyclopedia
David Nemec is an American baseball historian, novelist and playwright.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio
, Nemec spent most of his adolescence in Bay Village, Ohio
. He played outfield and first base for Ohio State University
while earning a BA in English (graduating in 1960). After serving in the army, he taught and coached in Cleveland public schools while working on a novel about the Sam Sheppard murder case, which occurred in his hometown of Bay Village. Sheppard had been Nemec’s family physician prior to his 1954 conviction for his wife’s slaying, which was later overturned.
Nemec moved to New York City with his first wife, the visual artist Vernita Nemec (aka Vernita N’Cognita) in 1965. During the late '60s Nemec won a Transatlantic Review award for his first published story, "On the Produce Dock."
Throughout the 1970s Nemec worked as a parole officer in the Youthful Offender Bureau with the New York State Division of Parole while he continued to publish stories, two of which gained citations in The Best American Short Stories. The parole experience later provided the backdrop for Nemec’s second novel, Mad Blood, based loosely on the 1963 Wylie-Hoffert murder case.
In August 1973, Nemec was awarded the first of several residencies he was to spend at Yaddo
, the artists’ and writers’ colony in Saratoga Springs, New York
. Following his second Yaddo stay in 1975, Nemec drew on his knowledge of baseball history to create The Absolutely Most Challenging Baseball Quiz Book, Ever (Macmillan, 1977), the first in a series of popular Nemec baseball quiz books.
Toward the end of the 1970s, Nemec returned to fiction, publishing his first novel, Bright Lights, Dark Rooms. He has since published five more novels, among them The Systems of M. R. Shurnas.
During the 1990s, Nemec expanded on the research he had done for his historical baseball novel, Early Dreams, to become a scholar on baseball’s infancy as a professional sport. Since 1987, Nemec has authored or co-authored over 20 books on baseball, many focusing on the game’s embryonic years. In 1994, Lyons & Burford published The Rules of Baseball, Nemec’s anecdotal look at the evolution of the rules of the game. The following year the same publisher brought out his The Beer and Whisky League, a history of the American Association
during its ten-year existence (1882–1891) as a rebel major league. In 1997, Donald I. Fine Books published Nemec’s The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball. His two most recent books, Major League Baseball Profiles: 1871-1900 vols. 1 & 2, were published in 2011 by the University of Nebraska Press
. In 2012 McFarland will publish "The Rank and File of 19th Century Major League Baseball: Biographies of 1,081 Players, Owners and Umpires".
Nemec has received The Sporting News Research Award, playwrighting grants from The Impossible Ragtime Theater and the Huntington Playhouse, fellowships in creative writing and numerous residency fellowships at the Corporation of Yaddo
, the MacDowell Colony
, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Edward Albee Foundation. He has taught writing at the College of Marin, St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery and prisons in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nemec is a member of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research
. His work has appeared in Survival Prose, Twilight Zone, Crimes of 20th Century, Baseball and the Game of Life, A History of Baseball in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Four Dynasties of the New York Yankees, Working Artist, and Contemporary Authors.
He currently lives in Eastport, New York
with his wife, the teacher and author Marilyn Foster, and is the stepfather of the film and TV actress Kat Foster
and associate film producer Alex Foster.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, Nemec spent most of his adolescence in Bay Village, Ohio
Bay Village, Ohio
-Education:Bay High School was awarded the blue ribbon award in the school year of 2010-11.Newsweek magazine placed Bay High School 793rd in its 2009 ranking of the top 1,500 U.S...
. He played outfield and first base for Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
while earning a BA in English (graduating in 1960). After serving in the army, he taught and coached in Cleveland public schools while working on a novel about the Sam Sheppard murder case, which occurred in his hometown of Bay Village. Sheppard had been Nemec’s family physician prior to his 1954 conviction for his wife’s slaying, which was later overturned.
Nemec moved to New York City with his first wife, the visual artist Vernita Nemec (aka Vernita N’Cognita) in 1965. During the late '60s Nemec won a Transatlantic Review award for his first published story, "On the Produce Dock."
Throughout the 1970s Nemec worked as a parole officer in the Youthful Offender Bureau with the New York State Division of Parole while he continued to publish stories, two of which gained citations in The Best American Short Stories. The parole experience later provided the backdrop for Nemec’s second novel, Mad Blood, based loosely on the 1963 Wylie-Hoffert murder case.
In August 1973, Nemec was awarded the first of several residencies he was to spend at Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
, the artists’ and writers’ colony in Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
. Following his second Yaddo stay in 1975, Nemec drew on his knowledge of baseball history to create The Absolutely Most Challenging Baseball Quiz Book, Ever (Macmillan, 1977), the first in a series of popular Nemec baseball quiz books.
Toward the end of the 1970s, Nemec returned to fiction, publishing his first novel, Bright Lights, Dark Rooms. He has since published five more novels, among them The Systems of M. R. Shurnas.
During the 1990s, Nemec expanded on the research he had done for his historical baseball novel, Early Dreams, to become a scholar on baseball’s infancy as a professional sport. Since 1987, Nemec has authored or co-authored over 20 books on baseball, many focusing on the game’s embryonic years. In 1994, Lyons & Burford published The Rules of Baseball, Nemec’s anecdotal look at the evolution of the rules of the game. The following year the same publisher brought out his The Beer and Whisky League, a history of the American Association
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
during its ten-year existence (1882–1891) as a rebel major league. In 1997, Donald I. Fine Books published Nemec’s The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball. His two most recent books, Major League Baseball Profiles: 1871-1900 vols. 1 & 2, were published in 2011 by the University of Nebraska Press
University of Nebraska Press
The University of Nebraska Press, founded in 1941, is a publisher of scholarly and popular-press books. It is the second-largest state university press in the United States and, including private institutions, ranks among the 10 largest university presses in the United States...
. In 2012 McFarland will publish "The Rank and File of 19th Century Major League Baseball: Biographies of 1,081 Players, Owners and Umpires".
Nemec has received The Sporting News Research Award, playwrighting grants from The Impossible Ragtime Theater and the Huntington Playhouse, fellowships in creative writing and numerous residency fellowships at the Corporation of Yaddo
Yaddo
Yaddo is an artists' community located on a 400 acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment."...
, the MacDowell Colony
MacDowell Colony
The MacDowell Colony is an art colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire, U.S.A., founded in 1907 by Marian MacDowell, pianist and wife of composer Edward MacDowell. She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds...
, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and the Edward Albee Foundation. He has taught writing at the College of Marin, St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery and prisons in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nemec is a member of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research
Society for American Baseball Research
The Society for American Baseball Research was established in Cooperstown, New York, in August 1971 by Bob Davids of Washington, D.C. The Society's mission is to foster the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball, while generating interest in the game...
. His work has appeared in Survival Prose, Twilight Zone, Crimes of 20th Century, Baseball and the Game of Life, A History of Baseball in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Four Dynasties of the New York Yankees, Working Artist, and Contemporary Authors.
He currently lives in Eastport, New York
Eastport, New York
Eastport is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 1,454 at the 2000 census.Eastport straddles the borders of the Towns of Brookhaven and Southampton....
with his wife, the teacher and author Marilyn Foster, and is the stepfather of the film and TV actress Kat Foster
Kat Foster
Kat Foster, sometimes credited as Kathy Foster , is an American actress.A classically trained dramatic actress, Foster studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts...
and associate film producer Alex Foster.
Books
- The Absolutely Most Challenging Baseball Quiz Book, Ever (1977)
- The Even More Challenging Baseball Quiz Book (1978)
- The Ultimate Baseball Book (1979)
- Bright Lights, Dark Rooms (1980)
- Mad Blood (1983)
- The Systems of M.R. Shurnas (1985)
- Great Baseball Feats, Facts & Firsts (1987)
- The Most Extraordinary Baseball Quiz Book Ever (1990)
- The Baseball Challenge Quiz Book (1991)
- 20th Century Baseball Chronicles (1991)
- The Great American Baseball Team Book (1992)
- Players of Cooperstown (1992)
- 1001 Fascinating Baseball Facts (1993)
- The Rules of Baseball (1994)
- The Beer and Whisky League (1995)
- Baseball More than 150 Years (1996)
- The Great Encyclopedia of Nineteenth Century Major League Baseball (1997)
- Stonesifer (1999)
- 100 Years of Major League Baseball (1999)
- The Great Book of Baseball Knowledge (1999)
- Remember Me to My Father (2001)
- The Baseball Rookies Encyclopedia (2004)
- Early Dreams (2004)
- The Great American Baseball Box (The History of Baseball on CD) (2005)
- The Ultimate Chicago Cubs Baseball Quiz Book (2006)
- The Ultimate New York Yankees Baseball Quiz Book (2006)
- The Ultimate St. Louis Cardinals Baseball Quiz Book (2007)
- The Ultimate Boston Red Sox Baseball Quiz Book (2007)
- This Day in Baseball History (2009)
- The Picture Maker (2010)
- Major League Baseball Profiles: 1871-1900, vols. 1 & 2 (2011)