Stefan Fatsis was interviewed for BookCast by Fairfax County Public Library Director Sam Clay. BookCast is sponsored by Virginia Commerce Bank through the Fairfax Library Foundation.

• Journalist Stefan Fatsis has written three books. A Few Seconds of Panic: A 5-foot-8, 170-pound, 43-year-old Sportswriter Plays in the NFL is the Plimptonian story of his summer as a training-camp placekicker for the Denver Broncos. Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players chronicled the twisted subculture of the quintessentially American board game and the author’s descent into it. Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America’s Heartland followed a troupe of anti-establishment baseball entrepreneurs and their nose-thumbing creation, the Northern League.



• He has been a reporter and sportswriter for the Associated Press and The Wall Street Journal. He is a regular sports commentator on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and has also appeared on CNBC, ESPN and other networks.



• Reviews: Los Angeles Times: “Plimpton’s true heir may well be Stefan Fatsis… [He] is able to penetrate the players’ psyches in a way that few sportswriters have.” Sports Illustrated: “The best description of the mental and emotional challenges of playing in the NFL that I have seen in print,” former NFL player Ed Cunningham in a letter to the magazine about Fatsis’ essay.



• About the author.