BASKETBALL and Life

About the Book

Utilizing the myriad of experiences and people he has met and worked with in a six-decades career as the Official Scorer for the New Jersey Nets of the NBA, Herb Turetzky has authored a collection of poems which will make the reader feel as if he/she is actually taking part in this wonderful life, going back to the beginning of the author´s involvement with basketball in the blue-collar Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. Along the way, as the author makes his readers feel almost as if they, too, are sitting courtside working with some of the greatest athletes in the world, readers will get the feeling of winning team championships, being installed in numerous Halls of Fame, and forming relationships with such storied athletes as Shaquille O´Neal, Michael Jordan and Julius "Dr. J" Erving. In short, for even the most casual fan of the game of basketball or almost any Brooklynite, you will find BASKETBALL and Life to be a MUST-READ book, one you will remember for years to come.

About the Author

Drawing from his youth, growing up in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood and getting an early introduction to the “City Game” of basketball at the Brownsville Boys Club, Herb Turetzky has been able to blend these two major influences on his life into a collection of poetry which, mixed with his closely-knit family relationships, has resulted in a “must read” for followers of each area. Using his love for the game to forge what has now become a six-decade career as Official Scorer for the New Jersey Nets of the NBA, Herb has managed to expand his experiences around the globe. His career with the Nets has reached the point where he has now worked in more than 1,100 consecutive games over the past 26 years and has been enshrined in the National Pro-Am City Leagues Hall of Fame, Brooklyn U.S.A. Basketball Hall of Fame, National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and, with the great Julius ‘Dr. J” Erving serving as his personal escort, the prestigious New York City Basketball Hall of Fame. With the strength and support of his wife of forty years, Jane, a New York City Special Education Health Coordinator, and their children Jennifer, a School Psychologist, and David, a former college basketball coach now embarking on a career as a High School Guidance Counselor, Herb hopes to continue his career with the Nets for at least two more years and join them at their under-construction Barclays Center home in his native borough of Brooklyn for the 2012 season. In so doing, Herb will have completed quite a circuitous career in professional basketball, beginning as a college senior at Brooklyn’s Long Island University and finishing up at the Barclays Center, perhaps a mile from LIU. It has been quite a journey and one you will feel you have shared by the time you finish this collection of poetry.