The Packaged Tourist Show

Tonight’s guest is author Barry Sparks. Barry hales from York, Pennsylvania and has been a free-lance writer since 1970 (when he sold his first article to Baseball Digest in July 1970). Barry has written for more than 70 national and regional publications like the Baltimore Sun, Wall Street Journal, and many others.   He has written three books: a bio on author Rick Riordan; a bio on baseball Hall-of-Famer Frank “Home Run” Baker; and his latest release “The Search for the Next Mickey Mantle: From Tom Tresh to Bryce Harper” which came out in 2022 and discusses in brilliant yet poignant detail the perils of being label the next Mickey Mantle.

Tonight’s guest is author Heather Conn. Heather hales from British Columbia in Canada and earned a master’s degree in creative nonfiction writing from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland   She presently works as freelance writer, blogger, screenwriter, writing instructor and coach and has published three books: two non-fiction history books, two children’s fiction books, and a memoir.   Plus, she has published articles for more than 50 publications and a half-dozen anthologies. And she has written short films and short documentaries.   Tonight, we will pay tribute to her writing career.

Tonight’s guest is award-winning sports author Jim Lefebvre. Jim was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin though today he lives in Minnesota.   Jim has published two books. His first book “Loyal Sons” a magnificent history of the 1924 season that features the Four Horseman of Notre Dame was released in 2008.   Then Jim wrote the award-winning biography Coach For A Nation: The Life and Times of Knute Rockne.” and just this month, he released the Special Centennial Commemorative Edition of  “Loyal Sons: The Story of The Four Horsemen and Notre Dame Football’s 1924 Champions”.   Tonight, Jim and I will be discussing the centennial of that immortal season and how the Four Horsemen made it all possible.

Tonight’s guest is football author Greg Tranter. Greg lives in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts and is a prominent Buffalo Sports historian, curator, and collector with expertise in Buffalo Bills memorabilia.   Tonight, we will be discussing his latest book “The Providence Steam Roller: New England’s First NFL Team” which was released 11 days ago.

Tonight’s guest is writer, historian, and storyteller Robin K. Foster. Robin resides in Maine and works as an ESOL instructor at the South Portland School Department.   Tonight, we will be discussing her future book release “Grit and Ghosts”, an examination of eight remarkable women who endured, persevered, and triumphed in difficult times in American history.

Tonight’s guest is the man who made this show possible: Mr. Ralph Tyko, my mentor, my friend, my guru, and my radical conscience. Ralph was born in Jackson Heights in Queens and joined the Air Force after graduating from high school where he spent most his military stint at Travis Air Force base in California. After leaving the Air Force he at first lived a conventional life managing an insurance agency while pursuing a career in comedy: writing, performing, and producing comedy shows. Throughout his life Ralph loved baseball and saw many a baseball game at Yankee Stadium, the Polo Grounds, and Ebbets Field. He was a West Coast Representative for Topps Baseball Card Company.   Ralph branched out into doing a cable TV sports show where he interviewed many of his baseball from the glory days of New York baseball. In 2012 he switched to podcasting where he interviewed interesting guests from all walks of life and by 2016 the Comfortably Zoned Network was born where he along with a brilliant panel of experts talked about baseball, politics, and sports in general.   Today Ralph is the host of the video podcast “Zig in the Zone” where he and his guests continue his great work in entertaining viewers with his views, memories, and insights in sports history and the American political scene.   Tonight, Ralph and I are commemorating the 70th anniversary of Willie Mays’ immortal catch of Vic Wertz’s blast in game one of the 1954 World Series and even more significantly we want to pay tribute to the life and baseball careerof Willie Mays, we want to say “goodbye” to the Say-Hey Kid.

Tonight’s guest is author Steve Massey. Steve is a graduate from Southern Mississippi University and has written seven books in his career dealing with Civil War History to Marco Rubio on foreign policy to Middle Eastern foreign policy, and, lastly, on the 1947 Pittsburgh Steelers.   Tonight, we will be discussing Steve’s book “Starless: the 1947 Pittsburgh Steelers” which was released in 2018.

Tonight’s guest is author Lenny Wagner. Lenny lives in Moorestown, New Jersey and is the President of the Historical Society of Moorestown and curated several of the Society’s most popular exhibits including “Sports Legends of Moorestown” which premiered in 2010. He is also a member of the Society of American Baseball Researchers and has contributed to the organization’s biography project.   Tonight, we will be discussing his newly released book “Playing with the Best: One Man’s Journey through the Golden Age of Sports”.

Tonight’s guest is author Bob Hyldburg. Bob hales from Massachusetts and has been the Executive Director of Gotham Whale since last July and previous served as a strategic business consultant there since November last year.   He has also worked as a public speaker devoted to giving motivational speeches on overcoming obstacles and embracing authenticity for elite athletes, coaches, and business owners since 2008.   Tonight, we will be discussing his other passion the New England Patriots. He has published two books on the Pats, “Total Patriots: the definitive encyclopedia of the world-class franchise” which came out in 2009 and “Relive Patriots History: Six Time World Champions” which was released in October 2020.

Tonight’s guest is author Sharon K. Connell. Sharon was born in Wisconsin but lived most of her adult life in Chicago and Florida where she worked in clerical positions in the medical field and in advertising. She is now retired and resides in Houston, Texas.   Although she defines her genre of writing as Christian Romance Suspense, she has also published a cookbook and a multi-genre collection of short stories.   Sharon has also devoted her life to her Christian faith and has spent most of her life studying the Bible and graduated from the Pensacola Bible Institute.   Tonight, we will be discussing her latest release “Wyoming Called” which was released earlier this week.

Tonight’s guest is sports author Wayne Stewart. Wayne lives in Ohio and has been writing sports history since 1978. He has published at least 40 books. His books run the gamut from Pro Football to Major League Baseball to NBA basketball.   He has interviewed sports legends Hank Aaron, Joe Montana, and Larry Bird to name a few.   Tonight, we will discuss his latest release “1960: when the Pittsburgh Pirates had them all the way”.

Tonight’s guest is author Dr. Dean Haycock. Dean is a science and medical writer living in New York. He earned his doctorate in neurobiology at Brown University. Dean has written numerous articles for academic journals.   He has written five books dealing Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorders, Criminal Psychopathic behavior, exploring psychology as portrayed in literature and film and in April 2019 he released his latest book “Tyrannical Minds: Psychological Profiling, Narcissism, and Dictatorship” which explores what are the psychological commonalities that produce the world’s worst dictators.

Tonight’s guest is forensic genealogist and author Jacqueli Finley. Jacqueli is a forensic genealogist and assistant investigator for DNA Consultants since last May. She has also been doing genealogical research on the Lee family of Virginia since 2004. She has also done genealogical projects for Ancestry and has been a genealogical blogger since December 2021.  In March 2023 she published her first book, “Parents of Colonel Richard Lee (Lees of Virginia Lost Lineages a series).

Tonight’s guest is digital creator Patrick Hickey, Jr. Patrick is the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Legacy Comix. He is also a voiceover performer for various Indie Game Developers. He is also a staff writer at Old School Gamer magazine. He is also a full-time assistant professor of English and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn, NY.   He was won numerous awards and his works have earned mentions in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo, and EA Sports.

Tonight’s guest is author Mike Selby. Mike was born and raised in the shadows of the British Columbia Rocky Mountains. He has served as the Deputy Director of the Cranbrook Public Library since 2007 and is also a columnist for the Daily Townsman in Cranbrook since 2008.   In 2019 Mike released his first book, “Freedom Libraries” a history of grassroots freedom libraries that were set up by Civil Rights workers in the Deep South during the height of the Civil Rights movement.

Tonight’s guest is investigative reporter and editor Scott Wheeler. Scott has been working at Capitol Media Group since 2008 and for 10 months also worked for One America News Network. He is also the chief correspondent for American Investigator Television Magazine.   Wheeler’s articles have been featured in Forbes Magazine, the Washington Times, The Hill, and the Washington Examiner along with other publications.   Twice his articles were brought to the attention of the President of the United States with requests for investigation and his articles have resulted in investigations by a wide variety of Federal agencies.   Before he became a reporter, he served in the U.S. Army where he gained considerable experience in counter-terrorism and has supported counter-terrorism training for the CIA, FBI, the Marine Corps, and ATF along with other first responders.   Scott has written one book and co-authored another book. Tonight we pay tribute to his writing career.

Tonight, we have a special guest: Pro Football Historian and author Terrence “T.J.” Troup. T.J. is one of the foremost historians of professional football. He has written numerous articles for “American Football Coaches Monthly” and was the football coordinator/consultant for the 2008 George Clooney film “Leatherheads” and also the 2021 film “12 Mighty Orphans”. He wrote his first book in 2009 titled “This Day in Football” and in 2014 he wrote the “The Birth of Football’s Modern 4-3 Defense” a splendidly detailed tactical analysis of how NFL teams played defense during the 1950s and a must read for all serious pro football researchers.   Tonight, Coach Troup and I will be discussing his upcoming release “1961: A Sensational Season” where Coach Troup examines the offenses, defenses, kicking teams, stats, and significant games for all 14 NFL teams and the Houston Oilers and the San Diego Chargers in the AFL.

Tonight’s guest is author Barbara Gregorich. Barbara was born and raised in Ohio. Her childhood passions were baseball and mystery novels. For a five-year period she worked as a college instructor Kent State University and Cuyahoga Community but her desire was to become a full-time writer.   Her first novel “Who’s on First” released in 1976 explored her love of baseball. In 1993 her non-fiction work “Women at Play” was a critically acclaimed work of baseball history that explored the history of women playing baseball.   Since then, Barbara has published innumerable works of fiction and non-fiction. Her last two works “The F Words” and “Exit Velocity” are works of fiction. “The F Words” is a work of political fiction for teens. And “Exit Velocity (which was released last month) is a combination of political fiction and science fiction for adults.

Today’s guest is author and historian Heather Cole. Ms. Cole resides in the Shenandoah Valley region of Virginia and presently works as the Editor and Director of Media Relations at Bridgewater College in Virginia and as a Publisher for Rock Street Press in addition to her brilliant writing career.   In January 2023 she released “Virginia’s Presidents: A History and Guide” that offers readers a tour de horizon of the museums and historic homes of every U.S. President born in the State of Virginia.   Last May she released her latest book “Ohio’s Presidents: A History & Guide” that offers readers an intimate look at the museums and historic homes of all seven U.S. Presidents who were born in the state of Ohio.   Today we pay tribute to Heather’s writing career.

Tonight’s guest is sports author Bill Ryczek. Bill lives in Connecticut and is a partner of the Colebrook Financial Company located in Middletown, Connecticut but when he is not handling the affairs of the company Bill Ryczek is also a prolific sports author has written numerous books dealing with early baseball, the New York Yankees and New York Mets along with the New York Jets in the AFL.   He also wrote a book about how American newspapers covered the momentous events of the 1960s.   Tonight, we pay tribute to his great writing career.