[1]NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–Broadman & Holman Publishers’ re-release of the Chip Hilton sports series is the subject of a feature article in the Oct. 18 issue of Sports Illustrated magazine.
The 23-book series by NCAA football coach Clair Bee was published between 1948 and 1964. Updated versions of 12 volumes have been published by B&H with plans to release all 23 plus a 24th volume updated from a previously unpublished manuscript that Bee completed before his death. The updating of the books is being done by Bee’s daughter, Cindy Farley, and her husband, Randy. They promised Bee before his death at age 87 that they would try to make the series available again.
Jack McCallum, a senior writer at Sports Illustrated who grew up on the original editions, acknowledges the updating was needed for today’s generation.
“But Hilton traditionalists shouldn’t fret too much,” he wrote. “Though there will be plot changes (a buddy who fails an NCAA-administered drug test, a bout of cancer for Chip’s beloved mother, Mary), Chip will not be walking out of the huddle with an earring or flashing a radical tattoo as he rubs down the ball on the mound.”
Ken Stephens, president of Broadman & Holman, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, said, “I am elated with the full-page feature on our Chip Hilton series in Sports Illustrated. This is what ‘transforming our culture’ (a phrase in the LifeWay vision statement) is all about.
“We hear a lot about role models. How ironic that the memories of the immoral escapades of Wilt Chamberlain, and the virtuous characters in the novels of the great coach, Clair Bee, are both brought to our attention in the same week. I thank God that we can bring these great resources for entertainment and character development to today’s young people and grateful that Sports Illustrated deemed them worthy of review.”