. >> what is tiger land? . >> it is about the high school 1968 those that started that fall everybody inside the high school was hurt and full of pain because mlk junior had been assassinated the school had its first black principal in a segregated school and

they wanted to do something special in the school principal tells them everybody is watching us so we cannot show anger. so first they took back the championship and then 65 days later the all black school wins a state championship the first time in the history of the state that the same school wins two championships in one year. so the fact that they wanted against the backdrop of the assassination of martin luther king was more than the other school walkouts. >> how much of that was due to the principle? . >> he was an amazing man.

he was a former football player at ohio state university. he was ferocious about pride and cared about the students. also that year they send more kids to college from this all black high school than any other previous year. and it just became a national story of high achievement because all of the astonishing things eight out of 12 basketball players mothers worked as maids. eight out of 12. two of the baseball players had father serving time in prison. for the most part they were fatherless 16 and 17 -year-olds black boys to do

something amazing in that year as they were full of pain. >> did the columbus dispatch report on the story? . >> yes they did. but it was the only time the dispatch had black folk on the cover of the newspaper. they really had a sense this was a big story. even though it wasn't a paper that covered the civil rights movement, extensively, that this was a story they could not ignore. and they gave it a voice and a local black newspaper there was a gentle man who played

baseball in the negro league who knew that team was special and wanted people to pay attention but nobody came to the baseball game the player said looking in the stands sometimes there would only be one or two people in the stands. both of these leaders had coaches who were white. but barb hart landed at normandy in world war ii and was progressive with a wonderful big heart. but he knew this is where he wanted to be. he went to the university right outside of columbus

writing the thesis of the unfair treatment in world war ii that was in 1946 than 23 years later and then meeting this all black high school to the state championshi championship. >> why did you wait 50 years to write the book? . >> i was born in columbus and it wasn't in my consciousness that the high school had 12 state championships. i was home five years ago after finishing my book. and i ran into someone who was on the baseball team that year. we were walking down the street and talking about this

seminal year of 1968 and 69 that they won this wonderful championship. he said i was on the baseball team we won the state championship that year also. i said no way? we had a five day losing streak in the middle of the season but we came back in and made it into the state tournament and made it eight straight games. i said are you serious? he said i have absolutely serious. so i ran to the library the next morning to look it up just to make absolutely sure and there it was. columbus east high wind second state championship in a two-month period. and i said to myself, now

that's a book. and then to invite the teachers and the students just to bring the story together through the narrative and you think of these movies like blindside or friday night lights or hoosiers and remember the titans that is one sport and one school. this is to sports and actually made it to the top so i think the subtext of this book is what was going on in america with martin luther king, jr. has connections in this story because the leading minister was in the high school area and he brought doctor king to columbus several times so when many of these athletes were

seven and eight they watched king lead march is up and down right past the high school. so for them to have to take that below in the summer of 68 or in the spring for them to see him in the flesh, it was a heartbreaking moment for the nation and the city but on a personal level, for many people they ate at a restaurant that was called the novel the food bar that she

was on stage when he gave the i gave a dream speech in 1963 so there is a lot of connection to the nation and leading up to this amazing moment. >> was this your high school? . >> know. i went to east i for one year but then i finished at franklin heights. i knew that it was a special place still after the brown v board of education. and actually it ends with a case at the supreme court were the parents and the naacp sued the city of columbus for segregation and they win. so actually they become part of a major loss or one - - lawsuit at the end of the book.

>> how many could you track down? . >> of the 12 basketball player players, i tracked down ten of them. of the 15 baseball players come i tracked down 12. it was amazing due in part to the basketball coach had passed away but his three daughters still lived in the area. so they turned over to me his world war ii letters, archives, note letters, archives, notes, staffg reports on the game. baseball, their coach who still lives in columbus. and i was so fortunate he was a pack rat because he had all of the scores from every baseball game that year. so i really, really really got lucky.

but he was the assistant basketball coach as well. so in a way, i had his insight for both sports and that was extremely helpful. two of the players from the basketball team were first team college all-americans 1974 they were five members of the team. all of these athletes came from this one high school that i wrote about and then first team college all-americans. >> tiger land. is the name of the book. what book of yours are you best known for? . >> the butler that was turned

into a motion picture that starred oprah winfrey and forest whitaker and cuba gooding junior among others jane fonda, and vanessa redgrave. it was a pretty special movie that came out 2013 that you can safely say it took america by storm. it was an amazing heartfelt story of a gentleman i tracked down who worked for eight american presidents. his name is eugene. he started in the white house with harry truman and went all the way up to president reagan. he had quite an epic life. >> thank you for your time.

[inaudible conversations] . >> good evening everyone. thank you for joining us tonigh tonight. i am pleased to welcome you to this evening's event and presenting the new book invisible the organization which supports programs like history literature philosophy and other disciplines and for thepl