SALISBURY – The 5^th Annual National Sports Media Association Sports Book Festival will take place from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday at Literary Bookpost, 110 S. Main St.

Always an attraction of the NSMA’s Awards Weekend, this year’s festival will feature writers such as New York Times best-selling author Bob Ryan, as well as Hal McCoy, Mike Sielski and Terry Tibbetts. Each writer will be available to sign books and greet those in attendance.

Guests will also have the opportunity to meet and take pictures with visiting sports media from around the country.

The books the authors will be signing touch on everything from journalism to teamwork and service to country:

• NSMA Hall of Famer Bob Ryan is regarded as one of the country’s premier sports columnists. Retired from The Boston Globe (though he still contributes columns), Ryan has covered sports for nearly 50 years, and also appears regularly on The Sports Reporters on ESPN. Ryan’s book, “Scribe: My Life in Sports,” is about his life and journey from growing up in New Jersey to his life as a sports journalist for the Globe.
• NSMA Hall of Famer Hal McCoy is a 15-time NSSA Ohio Sportswriter of the Year. He will sign his book, “The Real McCoy: My Half-Century with the Cincinnati Reds.” McCoy’s book is about his career as a sportswriter, covering the Cincinnati Reds for the Dayton Daily News and FOX Sports Ohio.
• Mike Sielski was voted by his peers as the 2015 Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year. He will be signing his book, “Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to the Fields of Honor.” The book tells the true story of hometown heroes from Doylestown, Pa., who start as rivals on the playing field, but end up as devoted servicemen serving their country during conflict in the Middle East. Sielski is also known for his lyrical, provocative, and well-reported columns in The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he has worked since September of 2013.
• “A Spartan Game: The Life and Loss of Don Holleder,” is the first authoritative biography of Don Holleder. Former sportscaster Terry Tibbetts shares the inspirational story of how Holleder overcame limited academic skills to attend West Point; grew to be an All-America football end; volunteered to become quarterback when the coach needed leadership; and sacrificed his football career to serve his country in Vietnam. The inspiring story is a model for anyone willing to work hard to achieve, win, and most of all, place the team above self.

 

The National Sports Media Association membership consists of more than 1,100 sportscasters and sportswriters from throughout the country. The NSMA hosts an annual awards weekend, during which elite sports media are honored for excellence, some with induction into the organization’s Hall of Fame. Others are voted by their peers as National Sportscaster of the Year, National Sportswriter of the Year, and State Sportscaster and Sportswriter of the Year from each state.

For more information, go to www.nationalsportsmedia.org.