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"Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team That Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory"

Aired on Tuesday, February 28th.

On this edition of ST, we speak with Lydia Reeder, a writer and editor based in Denver. She tells us about her now book, a popular history entitled "Dust Bowl Girls: The Inspiring Story of the Team That Barnstormed Its Way to Basketball Glory." It's the surprising but true Depression-era story of a women's basketball team -- the Oklahoma Presbyterian College Cardinals -- who came from Durant, and who were pretty much the best of the best in the early 1930s. The leader of this inspiring team, the visionary coach Sam Babb, is also profiled in Reeder's book -- and, indeed, Ms. Reeder is the grandniece of Mr. Babb. As per Kirkus Reviews: "As she tells the amazing story of Babb and his underdog women's basketball team, Reeder also reveals the challenges facing serious female athletes during the 1920s and '30s, including the perceived risk of ‘destroying their feminine image by invading a man's world.’ Sports fans and general readers alike are sure to find the story both worthwhile and entertaining. A heart-warmingly inspirational tale.” And further, from a starred review in Library Journal: "Equal parts social history and sports legend come to life.... Of special interest for students of women’s studies and a strong contender for a film adaptation. With high appeal to sports fans and historians, this hidden gem of a story deserves a place in all public library collections." Note that Reeder will appear at a free-to-the-public reading and signing for this book tomorrow night, Wednesday the 1st, at 7pm in Tulsa. The event happens at Edison High School and is presented by Book Smart Tulsa.

Rich Fisher passed through KWGS about thirty years ago, and just never left. Today, he is the general manager of Public Radio Tulsa, and the host of KWGS’s public affairs program, StudioTulsa, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in August 2012 . As host of StudioTulsa, Rich has conducted roughly four thousand long-form interviews with local, national, and international figures in the arts, humanities, sciences, and government. Very few interviews have gone smoothly. Despite this, he has been honored for his work by several organizations including the Governor's Arts Award for Media by the State Arts Council, a Harwelden Award from the Arts & Humanities Council of Tulsa, and was named one of the “99 Great Things About Oklahoma” in 2000 by Oklahoma Today magazine.
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