ASHLAND – The Ashland University Bookstore is hosting a book signing with Cleveland Scene reporter Chris Parker on Tuesday, April 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. in the store located in the Hawkins-Conard Student Center on the AU campus.
Parker will be signing his book, “King James Brings The Land a Crown,” which chronicles the story of the Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 Championship.
Cleveland Scene beat reporter Chris Parker was in the locker room and at the games, following the team for two years to capture the feel of their historic title run as it wound from autumn to summer, especially in the rejuvenated hearts of the region’s fans.
King James Brings The Land a Crown picks up the Cleveland Cavaliers’ tale with the 2015 Finals loss to Golden State on their home floor. It chronicles the team’s victorious journey back to that summit to which this generation’s greatest sports icon returned for his storybook ending against a Warriors team that finished with an NBA record 73 wins, and took a 3-1 lead in the Finals.
It’s undoubtedly the greatest prodigal returns narrative in sports history. In one swoop LeBron James went from Judas to Galahad, bringing home the golden cup to a hollowed-out industrial city desperate for sports sunshine after decades of acid rain. It erased 52 years and 146 seasons of futility, going back to the city’s halcyon days led by another larger than life legend, Jim Brown.
Cleveland Scene beat reporter Chris Parker was in the locker room and at the games, following the team for two years to capture the feel of their historic title run as it wound from autumn to summer, especially in the rejuvenated hearts of the region’s fans.
King James Brings the Land a Crown features play-by-play vignettes, coach and player quotes, strategic basketball analysis and deeper insight into how the Cavaliers overcame their inconsistency to stage the greatest comeback in NBA Finals history.
A diehard basketball fan, and long-time Cleveland, Ohio, resident, Chris Parker cut his journalistic teeth in feature writing. Over the years he has interviewed Lindsay Buckingham, Ray Davies, the Black Eyed Peas and Elvis Costello. From there he moved onto long-form journalism, writing cover stories for alternative weeklies across the nation including the Cleveland Scene, Village Voice, LA Weekly, SF Weekly, City Pages, Dallas Observer, San Antonio Current, Phoenix New Times, Miami New Times, and Orlando Weekly.
He has penned over 3,000 articles for magazines and weeklies around the country. His byline has appeared regularly for years in places like Phoenix, Dallas, Orlando, Atlanta, Charleston and Chapel Hill, among others and he has developed relationships with the Hollywood Reporter, Jerusalem Post, The Guardian, Billboard, NPR, A.V. Club, and dozens of alt-weeklies and music magazines.
