Author Michael Holley visits Tatnuck Bookseller
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Fans wait in line at Tatnuck Bookseller, Gift Gallery and Cafe to have author Michael Holley sign copies of the book he co-wrote with Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, "Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery and My Return to the NFL." PHOTO/KEN POWERS

Westborough - On a picture postcard-perfect fall afternoon when lots of kids were out playing football, about 50 adults gathered inside Tatnuck Bookseller's Special Events Room to listen to Boston-based author Michael Holley talk about the sport.

Holley was talking specifically about his most recently completed project, the book he wrote with New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, titled "Never Give Up: My Stroke, My Recovery and My Return to the NFL."

Holley spent more than two hours at the Tatnuck Bookseller Sept. 29, signing books and sharing insights about the Bruschi project.

During his hour-long talk at Tatnuck, Holley also announced that he has begun another writing project, a book about being the manager of baseball's Boston Red Sox. The book will focus on current manager Terry Francona, but will also look at the diff erent men through the years who have sat in what is arguably the hottest seat in one inferno of a sports-crazy city.

Holley is currently a radio talk-show co-host, with Dale Arnold, of the Dale & Holley show, weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on WEEI (850 AM), which is simulcast on WVEI (1440 AM).

Holley said the thing about Bruschi that surprised him the most that is not in the book is how much Bruschi considers the ramifications of everything he says and does.

"Tedy is much more thoughtful than I expected," Holley said. "He is very aware of the fact that people will look at and analyze everything he does. He knows he's a role model to people and he's always thinking about that.

"I remember in the introduction to the book I'm writing about the Super Bowls and the parades and I wrote that some Patriots fans might be getting spoiled with the team's success," Holley said. "He made me take it out because he didn't want one Patriots fan to think he might be accusing them of being spoiled."

When it came time to sign for the folks who had come to see him, Holley showed the characteristics that have made him one of the most popular sports media personalities in New England. He shook hands and warmly greeted everyone who came to the table, asked the correct spelling of their first names, and wrote personalized comments in each book before he signed it.

"When I was 23 or 24, I went to a see lawyer Will Kunstler at a book signing at BU and when I met him as he was about to sign my book he asked me what I was interested in, and at the time it was Malcolm X, so I told him that," Holley said. "We talked about Malcolm X for a few minutes, he told me about his having met him, and then when he signed my book, his comments included a Malcolm X reference that made it a unique and very personal keepsake for me."

Holley said he includes the month and the year when he signs as a way for people to look back and remember the day a little better.

"Just so they can say, 'September 2007, yeah, I remember going there and meeting Michael and talking about Tedy Bruschi with him. That was a fun day,'" Holley said.