A Pen For All Seasons by Mike Whaley

Longtime NH sportswriter and Ball 603 contributor Mike Whaley has released a book – “A Pen For All Seasons: Dispatches From a Rural New England Life in Sports.” It contains 65 of Whaley’s favorite stories and columns with photos from 35 years in the newspaper business.

Rochester and Farmington figure most prominently in the book, which includes stories Whaley has written since the late 1980s from the Rochester Courier, Rochester Times, Foster’s Daily Democrat and Portsmouth Herald.

There's plenty on basketball. Here's a list: Spaulding boys and girls basketball, including long-time former SHS coach Tim Cronin; Holy Rosary HS of Rochester, 1955 Class C boys champs; Nute's David Burrows; Farmington's 1970 state championship boys team and the 1967-68 Tiger Tigers, who were undefeated that season in volleyball, basketball and softball; Portsmouth's Dan Parr and Sox great Carlton Fisk; Newmarket's Ron Weitzell and Bert McGloughlin; UNH coach Gerry Friel; Oyster River girls coach Cathy Coakley; Whaley's old college hoop teammates and friends, Bill Fitzgerald and John LeMieux, and the Austin-Cate Wildcats, 1971 NH Class S boys champs.

Whaley was a full-time area sportswriter from 1987 until his semi-retirement in 2019. He still writes occasionally for Foster’s and the Herald, as well as Ball603. A two-time New Hampshire Sportswriter of the Year, Whaley lives in Portland, Maine, with his wife, Jill.

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You can purchase the book in person starting Monday, May 22, at Collins Sports Center in Rochester, N.H. during their regular business hours: Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Cash and checks accepted only.

If you're interested in paying via check, please email whaleym25@gmail.com.