by E. Ethelbert Miller (Author)
The 5th Inning is poet and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller's second memoir. Coming after Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Writer (published in 2000), this book finds Miller returning to baseball, the game of his youth, in order to find the metaphor that will provide the measurement of his life. At 60, he ponders whether his life can now be entered into the official record books as a success or failure.
The 5th Inning is one man's examination of personal relationships, depression, love and loss. This is a story of the individual alone on the pitching mound or in the batters box. It's a box score filled with remembrance. It's a combination of baseball and the blues. The paperback has an additional chapter.
Author Biography
E. Ethelbert Miller is the editor of Poet Lore magazine, the board chair of the Institute for Policy Studies, and a board member of the Writer's Center. He is the author of Fathering Words: The Making of an African American Writer and How We Sleep on the Nights We Don't Make Love, which was an Independent Publisher Award Finalist. He is the recipient of the O. B. Hardison Jr. Poetry Prize, the Barnes & Noble/Writers for Writers Award, and a Fulbright grant to visit Israel. In March 2016, the AWP awarded him the George Garrett Award for Outstanding Community Service in Literature. He lives in Washington, DC.