Michael E. Lowenstein's "The Nineteenth Year, A Sweet Summer with the Pittsburgh Pirates" Tells the Story of the Team's World Championship 1971 Season and Inspiring 2011 Season

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Pittsburgh author Michael E. Lowenstein has released his second book, The Nineteenth Year, A Sweet Summer with the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Lowenstein tells the story of the world championship Pittsburgh Pirates of 1971 and the inspiring Pirates of 2011.  In 1971, when he was fourteen years old, Michael Lowenstein spent the summer watching Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell and the Pittsburgh Pirates on their way to a World Series.  Forty years later, in honor of that team, he committed to go forty games to watch a Pirate team that had just finished its eighteenth losing season in a row.  The Nineteenth Year tells the story of those two seasons.  This is a story of loyalty, passion and hope, and, most of all, of baseball and family.

The Nineteenth Year, A Sweet Summer with the Pittsburgh Pirates has been honored as a "finalist," in the 2012 Best Book Award, Sports Category by USA Book News.  The book, ISBN 9781595717993, is available and may be purchased for $16.95 at www.TheNineteenthYear.com or www.BarnesAndNoble.com , or www.amazon.com

Endorsements:

"Mike Lowenstein shows you're never too old to fall for a baseball team, whether the '71 Pirates of his youth or the 2011 Pirates and their beautiful new stadium of his adulthood. It's just as easy to fall for Mike's storytelling, which like a dramatic game — say No. 7 of the 1971 World Series — whets your appetite for the next pitch, or page.'' -- David Markowitz, Once Upon A .406 (blog); [email protected]

"Michael Lowenstein captures the bittersweet story of the "post-Francisco Cabrera" era of baseball in Pittsburgh. More than a lament for nineteen years of on-the-field futility, his delightful, elegant memoir-as-history ties the team's recent efforts to restore its reputation to its more distant but storied past. It reminds us why sport matters, especially in Pittsburgh, and why remaining a fan of the team you worshipped as a youth is one of life's enduring joys. -- Dr. Rob Ruck, University of Pittsburgh, Department of History, Author of Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game; The Republic of Baseball: Dominican Giants of the American Game (with Dan Manatt); The Tropic of Baseball: Baseball in the Dominican Republic; and Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh.

The Nineteenth Year and his previous book, We All We Got (Pitt basketball), establish Michael Lowenstein as one of our very best chroniclers of Pittsburgh sport. He writes like an angel, with grace and illumination, even on the profane subject of a long-losing baseball team. -- Dr. Marcus Rediker,Distinguished Professor of Atlantic History, University of Pittsburgh.

Mike captures the essence of how we feel about the game, particularly in Pittsburgh.  As I read Mike's account of Bob Prince screaming about Chicken on the Hill with Will, I got chills. I admit I get a lump in my throat during James Earl Jones' speech about the game in Field of Dreams. The very last two sentences of Mike's book (before the epilogue) are even better. -- Perry Napolitano, Partner and Chair, Financial Industry Group, Reed Smith LLP.

About the Author:

Michael E. Lowenstein is a graduate of University of Pittsburgh and the University of Michigan Law School.  He is a partner at the law firm Reed Smith LLP.  He also is the author of We All We Got: Pitt Basketball in the Golden Era.

Agency Contact: Sherry Frazier

Frazier Public Relations

(703) 431-7895 Phone

[email protected]

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SOURCE Michael E. Lowenstein