![]() His best, in my view, is his first, The Southpaw. Bang the Drum Slowly is slightly sentimental as it concerns the dying catcher Bruce Pearson, a simpleton who calls Wiggen “Arthur” when everyone else calls him “Author” in recognition of his having written a book. To the end, Harris was best known for the 1973 film, Bang the Drum Slowly, for which he also wrote the script, but the reason it made a good and lasting movie (aside from the cast, which included Michael Moriarty, Robert De Niro, and Vincent Gardenia) is also the reason it’s not his best book. Harris wrote four novels from the persona of Henry Wiggen, a pitcher with the New York Mammoths, a team modeled - explicitly in the movies - on the Yankees. I don’t know much more about him, except that he was the second-best writer of baseball fiction ever, so consider him Ted Williams to Ring Lardner‘s Babe Ruth, a not-too-shabby comparison. Don’t be too sad: he was 84 and apparently lived a good life. Mark Harris died last week of complications from Alzheimer’s. Best of Chicago 2022: Sports & Recreation. ![]() ![]() Best of Chicago 2022: Music & Nightlife. ![]()
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