It has been awhile since I have posted an update. The flu and cold knocked me back for a nasty three full weeks and I have been busy, both at day job and on the beat. Here is a reprint of a nice column that appeared in the Urbana Citizen newspaper....

Alumni share 'Stories of the Shoe'

BREANNE PARCELS
Staff Writer

Steve Davis had a busy day recently in Urbana.

The author from Pandora met with several Ohio State University area alumni for anecdotes and photos for his upcoming book, "Stories of the Shoe," which will feature tales about Ohio Stadium.

"I conceived the idea after hearing people tell of memories of their time in the stadium and reading accounts that people would send to newspapers," Davis said. "I thought someone should preserve that stuff."

Local individuals he interviewed included "Buckeyeman" Larry Lokai, Dr. Jan Ebert and Malcolm Reich.

Lokai is known for passing out hand-crafted buckeye necklaces and catching cameras with his wild costume during televised OSU games. Ebert serves as the TBDBITL Alumni Club historian. The acronym stands for "the best damn band in the land" and Reich is also a proud past performer in the 1936 and 1937 marching bands. Reich's claim to fame? Participating in the very first "Script Ohio" formation.

Davis said the seed for the book was planted in the fall of 2005, when his son Curt was an OSU senior majoring in visual communication design.

"At the time, he also was working in an internship in the athletic department doing football game day programs, media guides, etc.," Davis said. "He needed a project for a senior thesis and was struggling for an idea. One day we were talking about it and I joked, 'You ought to do a Web site about Ohio Stadium where people could send in their stories. Then, when you are done I could do a book.' He rolled his eyes at me and said, 'Right Dad.' We both laughed."

But as time went by, the Davises were encouraged to pursue the concept.

"In June of 2006, we took Curt's thesis materials to OSU trademarks and licensing, thinking we had better check this out," Davis said.

OSU's Rick VanBrimmer said in order to avoid infringing on the university trademarks, the materials needed to be licensed, with a percentage of the book sale proceeds going to the university's scholarship fund.

That required a five-month process for Davis to submit sample writings, and he also had to pay an annual advance to the school, before selling a single book.

The Web site at www.storiesoftheshoe.com was launched in fall of 2006, and there have been more than 1,000 visitors since then, Davis said. Many of the site visitors have submitted stories.

"I have also traveled across the state and to home and away games to interview people," he said. "I have done in-depth interviews of, at last count, 91 people, and probably have taped at least that many fans at games the last two years. I walk around the stadium, recorder in hand, and go up to people and ask, 'What's your favorite Ohio Stadium memory?'"

Davis said the storytellers contributing to the book range in age from 10 to 103.

"Ohio Stadium means so many things to so many people in so many different ways and I hope the collection of short stories will capture a flavor of that," he said. "Some of the stories are humorous, some historical, some sentimental or inspirational, and some even sad. Collectively they will tell the stadium's story."