Two legendary sports legends are making appearances in D.C. over the next few weeks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Ray Lewis. These two MVPs are best known for their athletic prowess, but they are now scoring big on their literary pursuits.
They will both be hosting their book events at Politics and Prose. Abdul-Jabbar is there this Saturday, October 31st at 11 a.m. to sign copies of his novel Mycroft Holmes, and Lewis will be there on Tuesday, December 8th at 10 a.m. to sign his memoir, I Feel Like Going On: Life, Game, and Glory.
In Mycroft Holmes, Abdul-Jabbar and co-author Anna Waterhouse hone in on Sherlock Holmes’s older brother, Mycroft. The character appears in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock stories as well, as a man who matches or even exceeds Sherlock’s abilities but lacks passion for the detective life. Instead, he works as an important figure in the British government.
Abdul-Jabbar’s novel gives Mycroft ties to the island of Trinidad, where the character’s best friend Cyrus Douglas and fiancée Georgiana Sutton are from. In London, Douglas starts to hear disturbing rumors from home about mysterious disappearances and deaths of children. Sutton suddenly leaves to go back to Trinidad, and Mycroft convinces Douglas that they should follow her, landing them in a dangerous “web of dark secrets.”
The notoriously reticent Abdul-Jabbar was a history and English major at UCLA, and his interest in Mycroft began as an avid reader on the road during his basketball career. Since his family is from Trinidad, Mycroft Holmes gave Abdul-Jabbar the opportunity to explore the culture in Holmes’s era while challenging himself to write a novel for the first time.
This event is a signing only and the line may form as early as 10 a.m. Photos may be taken in the signing line but no posed photos are allowed. Abdul-Jabbar will be signing books only.
In I Feel Like Going On, Lewis says a lot of folks “know my game, but they don’t know my deal.” The legendary Baltimore Ravens linebacker writes about his troubled childhood and rise to stardom, as well as the ugly parts of football and some of the events that almost derailed his 17-year career. He and co-author Daniel Paisner credit Lewis’s religious faith for inspiring him through heartbreak and the NFL “grind.”
The memoir fulfills the promise Lewis made to himself to “show how the game is really played at the highest level” after retiring from the game and winning two Super Bowls.
This event is a signing only. The line will form at 11 a.m. and the signing will begin at 12 p.m. Lewis will stay for up to two hours, signing up to two copies of the book but no memorabilia. Photos are allowed, but Lewis will not pose for them.
