14
OCTOBER 27�NOVEMBER 3, 2021
FROM THE SHELF
CHECKING OUT THE
WORLD OF BOOKS
Author returns to Pendleton for book event
‘Overcoming the Odds’ by Kerry
Eggers tells the story of Jerome
Kersey’s rise to NBA fame
Go! staff
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G L A C I E R C O L D • FA W N F R E S H
Kerry Eggers
ABOUT JEROME KERSEY
Raised by grandparents
in rural Virginia in the 1960s
and ’70s, Kersey was among
the least likely of all eventual
NBA stars. A late-bloomer as a
basketball player, he was over-
looked by college scouts. He
signed with Longwood College
“Kerry Eggers has done it again. After covering the Trail Blazers throughout Kersey’s long run
in the NBA, I thought I had heard all the stories. But this book continually surprised me with
anecdotes and facts that I had never come across. This book is the perfect tribute.”
— Dwight Jaynes, Trail Blazers Insider, NBC Sports Northwest
“Kerry Eggers encapsulates perfectly the true heart-and-soul guy of those great ‘90s Trail Blazer
teams. Jerome Kersey — the player and the man — is chronicled like never before.”
— Chris Haynes, NBA Insider, Yahoo Sports, TNT sideline reporter and
host of “Posted Up with Chris Haynes” podcast
“Jerome was much more than a basketball player. He was a human being who tried to do every-
thing he could to help the people he came in contact with. Kerry describes it all. You’ll love the
book.”
— Bill Schonely, Blazer broadcasting legend
“When I read ‘Overcoming the Odds,’ I am looking in a mirror… It was a good read. Kerry
Eggers gives an accurate illustration of how hard work pays off when you are striving to be the
best of the best. We both came from humble beginnings and were able to compete as profession-
al athletes.”
— Michael Tucker, Former Bluestone High and Longwood standout,
12-year major-league baseball veteran
$27.00
ISBN 978-1-7350611-3-9
52700>
9 781735 061139
he served many years as an
ambassador to the Blazers and
was working as the club’s di-
rector of alumni relations when
he suffered a fatal pulmonary
thromboembolism in 2015. He
was 52.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Proceeds from the sales of
the general edition of the book
will go to both the Jerome
Kersey Foundation in Portland
and the Jerome Kersey ’84
men’s basketball scholarship at
DEMENTI
DEMENTI
ENDLETON — Kerry Eggers,
who visited Pendleton in 2018
to promote his last book titled “Jail
Blazers,” is returning to talk about
his latest release — a biography
on the late, great Portland Trail
Blazers forward Jerome Kersey.
Eggers will give a talk about
the book, answer questions and
autograph copies of “Overcom-
ing the Odds,” which details Je-
rome Kersey’s journey from rural
Virginia to the NBA, on Thursday,
Oct. 28, at Mac’s Bar and Grill,
1400 SW Dorion Ave.
Social hour will begin at 5 p.m.
with the presentation starting at
6 p.m.
“A beautiful, perfectly crafted ode to a late NBA star whose kindness and humanity warrants this
level of storytelling.”
— Jeff Pearlman, Author/sports journalist
EGGERS
EGGERS
P
in nearby Farmville, Virginia,
which was just making the
transition from NCAA Division
III to Division II. Kersey be-
came a four-year starter and a
small-college All-American but
received little notice from NBA
scouts. He was chosen with
the 46th pick and taken in the
second round of the 1984 draft
by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Kersey wound up playing 11
of his 17 NBA seasons in Port-
land. He was a starter and key
cog on a Portland team that
reached the NBA Finals in both
1990 and ’92, and as a veteran
reserve won a championship
ring with the San Antonio Spurs
in ’99.
Kersey’s story is one of per-
severance and also of making
a deep commitment to com-
munity and civic contributions.
After his retirement as a player,
“Jerome Kersey was one of the greatest teammates I’ve ever had, one of the hardest-working guys
to ever play in the NBA. He overcame many obstacles to become an All-Star-caliber player. I’m
so glad Kerry Eggers — one of the best writers in the business — has taken the time to highlight
Jerome’s career with this book. Every fan of the Trail Blazers, and everyone who appreciates
superb story-telling, will love it.”
— Clyde Drexler, Hall of Famer
FOREWORD BY TERRY PORTER
Longwood University in Farm-
ville, Virginia.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Eggers, who retired in 2020
after 45 years writing sports for
Portland newspapers, is a Cor-
vallis native whose father, John,
was an all-state basketball
player at Pendleton High. Kerry
currently lives in Wilsonville.
Eggers served for 20 years
as sports columnist at the Port-
land Tribune and is a six-time
winner of the Oregon Sports-
writer of the Year Award. This is
his eighth book.
He’s also written: “Blazers
Profiles” (1991), “Against the
World” (1993, with co-author
Dwight Jaynes), “Wherever You
May Be: The Bill Schonely Sto-
ry” (1999), “Clyde “The Glide”
Drexler: My Life in Basketball”
(2004), “Oregon State Univer-
sity Football Vault” (2009), “The
Civil War Rivalry: Oregon vs.
Oregon State” (2014) and “Jail
Blazers: How the Portland Trail
Blazers Became the Bad Boys
of Basketball” (2018).