Basketball junkie travels globe, tells all about it
Former Northwest Portland resident Wendell Maxey wrote for NW Examiner
Wendell Maxey’s just released book, “Called for Traveling,” covers 20 years of writing about basketball around the globe. A former Northwest Portland resident who contributed stories to the NW Examiner from 2007-10, his hoop dreams have taken him to bigger places—and some smaller ones.
Maxey has interviewed NBA greats such as Shaquille O’Neal and Isiah Thomas, American players finding new life in European ball and a cop who referees in a youth league in Plainfield, Ind.
But he hasn’t forgotten Portland. In fact, several stories he wrote for the NW Examiner made the 351-page book. His story about the Portland Indians, a pro team that played in the Portland Armory in the 1940s, ran first in the Examiner.
His Portland ties proved so inseparable that he included his non-basketball stories on the night Jack Dempsey fought four opponents here and on pitcher Luis Tiant, who finished his 19-year major league career in Portland.
Other Portland stories include “Landon Turner Remembers Life Before his Wheelchair,” Terrell Brandon at Home in his Barbershop” and one on Satchell Paige pitching for the Portland Beavers in 1961 at age 55.
“Called for Traveling: 20 Years of Sports Writing from the NBA, to Europe and Back Again,” by Wendell Maxey
The Times Publishers
351 pages
Available through Amazon, $22.99 hard cover, $15.99 paperback