Category Archives: Uncategorized

NBA center Jason Collins today became the first active male athlete in American sports to come out. Here’s hoping fans and teammates are ready. Because there are more on the way.   If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.  

I can’t wait to see this upcoming movie about Jackie Robinson and the integration of baseball. You’ll recognize Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, a braver man than Indiana Jones, for Rickey decided–against the wishes of his fellow baseball executives–that racial segregation must end. Who will be the Jackie Robinson for gay ballplayers? Maybe he’s already [...]

I am delighted (and dazzled) by Stephen Karl’s take on Fontana in the new issue of The Adirondack Review.  While baseball stories have been told for more than a century, Fontana is an original… Martino dazzles with his use of language, of scene-setting and description in his debut novel. Read the whole review here.

I recently noticed an Amazon review for Fontana posted by Stephen King. I know this review is not from the Stephen King whose books I’ve read and enjoyed (especially the Dark Tower series). The reviewer is likely a reader who liked Fontana and wanted to post his (or her) thoughts on Amazon, so he chose the name of a [...]

I’ve wondered often during the past few months if I underestimated major league ballplayers–maybe they wouldn’t slur and curse a gay comrade. Maybe the real-life Ricky Fontana would have it easier than the character in my novel. Today, I doubt myself a little less.