George Gmelch

The Irish Tinkers are a once itinerant people who were comparable in many ways to the Gypsies of Europe. For centuries, Tinkers travelled the countryside and their adaptation to their environment was unique. They had a symbiotic relationship with the settled rural dwellers, performing services for farmers in exchange for food and other items. Recently, the last altered economic conditions affecting most of rural Ireland have brought an abrupt end...

"In 1965 George Gmelch signed a contract to play professional baseball with the Detroit Tigers organization. Growing up sheltered in an all-white, affluent San Francisco suburb, he knew little of the world outside. Over the next four seasons, he came of age in baseball's Minor Leagues through experiences ranging from learning the craft of the professional game to becoming conscious of race and class for the first time. Playing with Tigers is not a...

"Anthrogologists George and Sharon Gmelch have lived among the itinerant people known as Travelers since their first fieldwork in the early 1970s. In 2011 they returned to seek out families they had knows decades before--shadowed by a film crew and taking with them hundreds of old photographs that they shared with Traveller friends and acquaintances. Many of those black-and-white photos are included in this book, alongside more recent photos and personal...

"A collection of essays about baseball in other countries across the globe that explores a wide range of issues for each region"--