Teamwork: Two Authors Team Up for an Amazing Hoops Story
Guest post by Authors Ty Chapman and John Coy from Lerner Publishing Group, 2024 Platinum Sponsor
Teamwork: Two Authors Team Up for an Amazing Hoops Story
What’s your favorite sport?
[Ty:] Basketball is my favorite sport and the only one that I routinely pay attention to.
[John:] Basketball. Basketball. Basketball.
Why did you want to write this story?
[John:] Each year the NBA presents the Twyman/Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. When I heard about this, I didn’t know these two players and set out to learn more about this remarkable story.
[Ty:] When John told me about Stokes—about how so many people didn’t know the story of the NBA’s first Black superstar, I knew this was a story I wanted to help tell. Both as a lover of basketball history, and a writer concerned with civil rights.
[John:] It’s so rewarding to share an unknown story with a new generation.
Ty, how did you choose to work on this story with John Coy?
[Ty:] John has been a friend and mentor since I entered the publishing industry. In some ways, it felt like a collaboration between the two of us was inevitable. So, when he approached me about co-writing a basketball biography, I was all in. I valued working with John on this project because of his wealth of knowledge, attention to detail, and passion for the game.
John, how did you choose to work on this story with Ty Chapman?
[John:] I’m a huge fan of Ty’s work. He’s going to have a long, successful career as poet and children’s writer and I am so glad to be able to collaborate with him.
What was the biggest surprise about the story?
[Ty:] The absolute greatness of Stokes as a basketball player was surprising to me. Growing up I had heard of all the other stars of this era: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, etc. But to research Maurice is to realize he was absolutely going to be one of the game’s greats.
This is a sports book, but it’s also a book about community. Can you speak to that community piece and why it was important to center in the book?
[John:] The story of how Maurice’s teammate Jack Twyman, the basketball community, and hotel owner Milton Kutsher stepped up to raise money for Maurice’s care is incredible. It’s a reminder for us of what people working together can do.
Why isn’t this story better known?
[Ty:] I think mostly because Stokes’ career was cut so short. Additionally, there was no internet at the time—let alone camera phones and social media.
What current player’s game most reminds you of Maurice Stokes?
[Ty:] Honestly? LeBron James. Maybe Jokic. There aren’t many other 6’7” or taller players who can handle the ball, pass, score, and rebound like Stokes. He was the blueprint no one thought to follow for decades.
[John:] I agree with Ty that it’s LeBron. Maurice Stokes was way ahead of his time.
What was your favorite part of writing this book?
[John:] Going on walks with Ty around Minneapolis to discuss details of this story and how to write it. And then seeing the terrific art Lonnie Ollivierre created for it.
Author Info:
Ty Chapman is the author of Sarah Rising (Beaming 2022); Looking for Happy (Beaming 2023); A Door Made for Me, written with Tyler Merritt (WorthyKids 2022); as well as multiple forthcoming children’s books through various publishers, and a forthcoming poetry collection through Button Poetry. Ty was a finalist for Tin House’s 2022 Fall Residency, Button Poetry’s 2020 Chapbook Contest, and Frontier Magazine’s New Voices Contest. He is currently an MFA candidate in creative writing for children and young adults at Vermont College of Fine Arts and was recently named a Loft Literary Center Mirrors & Windows fellow and Mentor Series fellow.
Ty Chapman’s Website: http://tychapman.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ty_chapmn/
John Coy is the author of young adult novels, the 4 for 4 middle-grade series, and nonfiction and fiction picture books including Hoop Genius, Game Changer, Their Great Gift, Dads, and If We Were Gone. He has received numerous awards for his work including a Marion Vannett Ridgway Award, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, and the Burr/Warzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature. John lives by the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.
John Coy’s Website: http://www.johncoy.com
X: https://twitter.com/johncoy23
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johncoy23
