Lonnie Morrison Wheeler (March 27, 1952 – June 9, 2020) was an American sportswriter, author, and biographer who wrote primarily on baseball. He worked for ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, altho ...

'' and ''

The Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was Product bundling, bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publi ...

''. Wheeler was the author of twelve books, and was known for being the co-author of the autobiographies of Baseball Hall of Famers Henry Aaron and

Bob Gibson Robert Gibson (November 9, 1935October 2, 2020), nicknamed "Gibby" and "Hoot", was an American baseball pitcher in Major League Baseball who played his entire career for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1959 to 1975. Known for his fiercely competi ...

Early life

Wheeler was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

to Naomi (née Epstein) and Leon Wheeler. He graduated from the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Career

Wheeler was a sportswriter for ''

'' in the 1970s and also wrote for ''

'' and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

''. He was the author of twelve books, notably co-writing the autobiography of Henry Aaron, entitled ''I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story'', and of Bob Gibson, entitled ''Stranger to the Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson''. He also co-wrote the autobiography of former

Mayor of Detroit This is a list of mayors of Detroit, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The current mayor is Mike Duggan, who was sworn into office on January 1, 2014. History of Detroit's executive authority During the earliest part of its history, Detroit was a ...

Coleman Young Coleman Alexander Young (May 24, 1918 – November 29, 1997) was an American politician who served as mayor of Detroit, Michigan from 1974 to 1994. Young was the first African-American mayor of Detroit and has been described as the "single mo ...

. Wheeler was the author of a biography on

Negro league The Negro leagues were United States professional baseball leagues comprising teams of African Americans. The term may be used broadly to include professional black teams outside the leagues and it may be used narrowly for the seven relativel ...

star and Hall of Famer

Cool Papa Bell James Thomas "Cool Papa" Bell (May 17, 1903 – March 7, 1991) was an American center fielder and pitcher in Negro league baseball and the Mexican League from 1922 to 1946. He is considered to have been one of the fastest men ever to play the ga ...

, entitled ''The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell: Speed, Grace, and the Negro Leagues'', and has also written books on college football and college basketball teams. Four of his books have been nominated for the

Casey Award The Casey Award (stylized as CASEY) is an annual literary award that has been given to the best baseball book of the year since 1983. The award was created by Mike Shannon and W. J. Harrison, editors and co-founders of '' Spitball: The Literary B ...

four times: ''The Cincinnati Game'' (with John Baskin) and ''Bleachers'' in 1988, ''I Had A Hammer'' (with Henry Aaron) in 1991, and ''The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell'' in 2021. In 2022, Wheeler was posthumously inducted into the Greater Cincinnati Journalism Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Wheeler and his wife Martie (née Kuhl) had three children together: Abby, Clark, and Emily. He died of

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

on June 9, 2020 and was survived by his wife, children, and one grandchild.

Bibliography

Biographies

* ''I Had a Hammer: The Hank Aaron Story'' (with

Hank Aaron Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021), nicknamed "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was an American professional baseball right fielder who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1954 through 1976. Considered one ...

) (1991) * ''Stranger to The Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson'' (with

) (1994) * ''Street Soldier: One Man's Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time'' (with Joseph Marshall) (2000) * ''Long Shot'' (with

Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007, and is a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He intended ...

) (2013) * ''Hard Stuff: The Autobiography of Mayor Coleman Young'' (with

) (2015) * ''The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell: Speed, Grace, and the Negro Leagues'' (2021)

Miscellaneous

* ''Bleachers: A Summer in Wrigley'' (1988) * ''The Cincinnati Game'' (with John Baskin) (1988) * ''Blue Yonder: Kentucky, The United State of Basketball'' (1998) * ''Schoolboy Legends: A Hundred Years of Cincinnati's Most Storied High School Football Players'' (with John Baskin) (2009) * ''Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk About How the Game Is Played'' (with Bob Gibson and

Reggie Jackson Reginald Martinez Jackson (born May 18, 1946) is an American former professional baseball right fielder who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City / Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and Cal ...

) (2009) * ''Intangiball: The Subtle Things That Win Baseball Games'' (2015) * ''Pitch by Pitch: My View of One Unforgettable Game'' (with Bob Gibson) (2015)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Lonnie 1952 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers American male biographers Baseball writers Ghostwriters Sportswriters from Missouri Sportswriters from Ohio The Cincinnati Enquirer people University of Missouri alumni Writers from St. Louis Writers from Cincinnati