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September 6, 2011
By Brent Shearer
Long Island Tennis Magazine’s Literary Corner: A Handful of Summers by Gordon Forbes
Right before the Grateful Dead played “Johnny B. Goode,” guitarist Jerry Garcia used to announce, “This is the one that started it all off.” For tennis memoirs, the same can be said about A Handful of Summers by former South African tennis pro Gordon Forbes. A Handful of Summers is a coming of age story set against the cosmopolitan background of the pro tour in the 1950s while it was still segregated between amateurs and pros.
November 30, 2010
By Brent Shearer
Long Island Tennis Magazine’s Literary Corner: The Education of a Tennis Player By Rod Laver With Bud Collins
Among the many fascinating tidbits of tennis history, the reader can glean from The Education of a Tennis Player by Rod Laver with Bud Collins is that accusations of stinginess between top rivals didn’t start with Andre Agassi’s jokes about Pete Sampras being a lousy tipper.
September 17, 2010
By Brent Shearer
Hitting With Rosewall
As tennis fans enjoy the 2010 U.S. Open, I cannot help but think about the man who won the event in 1956, Ken Rosewall, and the time I hit with him. I don’t know why I started by volleying when I faced the great Rosewall across the net.
April 5, 2010
By Brent Shearer
Little Pancho: The Life of Tennis Legend Pancho Segura By Caroline Seebohm
Last year was a tough year to publish a tennis biography if your name wasn’t Andre Agassi. But Caroline Seebohm’s account of another baseliner who also had the best return of serve of his era should not be overlooked.
November 1, 2009
By Alan Fleishman
Reflections on the Open

I have been watching the U.S. Open for a long time. As a former high school teacher, it was the alarm bell that meant summer was over. No more tennis games on weekdays, followed by hamburgers and cold beer, only time for lesson plans and parent conferences. Over the years, I have seen men’s tennis shorts go from short and white to long and black, while women’s styles went from Tracy Austin’s gingham to pearl ruffles designed by Stella McCartney (her father, Paul, attended this year’s matches). From grass to clay to hard court, from Forest Hills to Flushing, from Chrissie to Martina, from Steffi to Monica … it has always been an “educational” experience.

May 1, 2009
By Alan Fleishman
High School Memories From the Front of the Bus
“Hey, coach.” I remember the first time I heard it. It sounded strangely ominous. I was a Social Studies teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Bellmore, N.Y. My first few years there, I would go out and hit with the team; coaching was a whole new world.