Retired SID Still Busy at His Typewriter

Author of 12 Books

Retired SID Still Busy At His Typewriter

By Bill Anderson

News Sports Writer

Les Etter hasn't retired.

The 71-year-old author of 12 books is just as busy today  as he was 10 years ago when he was busy beating the drums for Michigan athletic teams as sports information director.

Although he hasn't banged out a publicity release since 1968, Etter hasn't been able to kick the habit of sitting down in front of a typewriter every morning.

And out of his office at his Marian Street home have come some of the best in juvenile sports fiction and some of the better sports fact books for the young audience.

"I don't work in the afternoons," said Etter as he sat in his living room, not much more than a field-goal shot from Michigan Stadium where he worked so many Saturday afternoons.

"I get up early every morning, around six o'clock, have a light breakfast, get some exercise and then I'm ready to go to work. I usually write on through lunch.

"It keeps me very busy," he added with a chuckle. "Heck, I don't even feel like I'm retired."

Etter has fiddled around with fiction most of his life.

Even as a cub reporter in Minneapolis in the 1920s and 30s, he found time to write biographies and short fictional pieces for the pulp magazines.

One day a copywriter on the desk of the Minneapolis Tribune offered Etter help with his "moonlight writing." And thus a  life-long friendship with Cliff Smik, one of the nation's better science fiction writers, was formed.

However, Etter found that he simply didn't have time to devote to his favorite sideline when Fritz Crisler called him to Ann Arbor as Michigan's sports publicist. It didn't make a great deal of difference because the bottom dropped out of sports pulp magazine market with the advent of television.

But Etter started writing fiction again two or three years before he retired from the athletic department.

He would walk out on the Ferry Field practice area and watch a quarterback such as Bob Timberlake put the No. 1 offensive unit through its paces.

Then he mind went his way to Yost Fieldhouse to watch a Michigan basketball practice and take a mental note or two on how Cazzie Russell dunks a basketball.

Or he might step into teh locker room, talk to coaches and overhear the conversations of the athletes as they discussed the day's evens and the hopes for Saturday night's big date.

All of these proved to be a great source of story ideas and these situations have added a touch of realism to all of Etter's plots and dialogues.

In 1965, Etter published his first novel, Morning Glory Quarterback, and it made a hit on the book market. Soon there were requests from publishers for more such novels,

Bull Pen Hero, Soccer Goalie, Golden Gloves Challenger, Fast Break Forward, Cool Man On The Court, and Big Down Gamble have all followed in print the last eight years.

Etter also found time to collaborate with John Durand on Highlights of College Football and produce another nonfiction work Basketball Superstars on his own.

His latest publication is a biographical work, Vince Lombradi, A Football Legend, and Three Hockey Heroes and Get Those Rebounds will be published soon.

There are several techniques that Etter observes when writing for a younger audience.

"You have to write simply," he pointed out, "and avoid long words. You have to watch your vocabulary closely so that the younger readers will be able to understand.

"You have to pay particular attention to sports terms. Some of the readers may not understand them. You have to explain what these terms mean without getting their minds off the story."

Once Etter has a story idea firmly in mind, he draws up an outline of the plot.

I'm probably not as thorough with the outline as I should be," Etter admitted. "I try to think up a character and put him in a situation and then see how he will react. Sometimes things don't turn out like I think they would.

"I try to draw upon past experience. I try to think of what Timberlake might have done under similar circumstances or what Cazzie might have said in a given situation. 

"Writing a fact book is more difficult. You have to stick very close to the truth. You might find three or four different dates for the same event. You wouldn't think there could be that much difference." 

It's a lot of work. 

"I get a kick out of it," Etter admitted. "A lot of people think that you just sit down in front of a typewriter and dash off a story. Boy, it's a long process.

"I have this story idea about a Black quarterback on a college football team. I have been working on this one for three years. I just can't get it the way I want it."

Nevertheless, writing has its rewards.

"All of my books are for young people. I like to write for them. They can become a very good audience. Some of them are pretty knowledgeable about sports. 

I get a lot of letter from readers and parents/ Some of the parents are thankful for the books because they have gotten their children interested in reading."

Home Office

This room at the Les Etter residence on Marian Street is a busy place during morning hours. Michigan's retired sports information director is usually busy writing another book for young readers. (Ann Arbor News photo taken by Bob Chase)