Arnold Hano

Arnold Philip Hano (March 2, 1922 – October 24, 2021) was an American editor, novelist, biographer and journalist, best known for his non-fiction work A Day in the Bleachers, a critically acclaimed eyewitness account of Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, centered on its pivotal play, Willie Mays' famous catch and throw. The author of several sports biographies, and frequent contributor to such publications as The New York Times, Sport, Sports Illustrated, and TV Guide, Hano was, in 1963, both a Hillman Prize  winner and NSSA's Magazine Sportswriter of the Year. He was also Baseball Reliquary's 2012 Hilda Award recipient and a 2016 inductee into its Shrine of the Eternals.

Early life and education
Hano was born in Manhattan on March 2, 1922. His father, Alfred Barnard Hano, worked as a lawyer and was employed as a salesman during the Great Depression; his mother, Clara (Millhauser), was a housewife. Hano spent his pre-school years in northern Manhattan's Washington Heights, in close proximity to both the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium. A Yankee fan at four, Hano responded to New York's loss in the 1926 World Series by switching his allegiance from the Yankees to the Giants, where it remained lifelong. That same year, his family moved from Manhattan to the Bronx for more than a decade comprising his formative years.

By age three, Hano had learned to read under the tutelage of his six-and-a-half-year-old brother, Alfred Jr. By the time he was eight, Hano was writing news stories for his brother's mimeographed weekly, The Montgomery Avenue News, albeit stories paraphrased from published newspaper articles. Before long, he grew tired of recycling other people's ideas; once again, his brother encouraged him:

"So I invented a cop who would always fall to his knees when he shot the bad guy and I called it Sitting Bull. It was my first pun. [...] I did about six or seven of these episodic things. I was eight years old, writing the equivalent of a novel for a street newspaper that we sold for a nickel a copy, door-to-door."

Hano attended DeWitt Clinton High School, graduating in 1937, and started that fall at Long Island University's Brooklyn campus. However, his initial plan to pursue a career in medicine was diverted:

"One day I wandered into the newspaper office, and they were laughing. I didn’t know you were allowed to have fun. They were enjoying themselves, so I changed from a science major to an English journalism major in my sophomore year. I became the sports editor of the college weekly in my junior year, and senior year I was editor-in-chief with another guy."

LIU's basketball team won the recently established National Invitational Tournament (NIT) in two of those three years. Hano wrote later "I didn't know how or what – would it be a newspaper, or freelance, or a novelist, but I knew I'd write." Hano went on to earn his Bachelor's degree in 1941.

Career
That summer, Hano was employed as a copy boy by the New York Daily News: Accompanying the News photographer to sporting events, he provided captions for those shots chosen to be published. Hano wrote almost 70 years later:

"I'm the luckiest fan in the history of the world. When I was a copy boy at the Daily News, I was sitting in the Ebbetts Field press box when that ball got away from Mickey Owen."

After the US entered World War II, Hano followed his brother into the armed forces in 1942, Alfred to the Air Force and Arnold to the Army. He served in an artillery battalion of the Seventh Infantry Division, participating in the Aleutian Islands Campaign and later landing in the first wave on Kwajalein Atoll. Informed that his brother was missing in action on a mission over Germany, Hano successfully applied to be commissioned as an infantry officer at Fort Benning, allowing him to be deployed to the European Theater where he hoped to find his brother. Before this plan could be realized, the war ended and Alfred's remains were recovered.

After his discharge, Hano returned to New York to a career in book publishing, first as managing editor with Bantam (1947–49), then as editor-in-chief with Lion Books (1949–54), working with novelists C. M. Kornbluth, David Goodis, David Karp and particularly Jim Thompson, whose productivity thrived under Hano's guidance.

In 1951, Hano debuted as an author with the baseball-themed young adult novel, The Big Out, described by The New York Times' reviewer Ralph Adams Brown as "one of the most thrilling sports novels this reviewer has ever read."

In 1954, Hano left Lion Books after a company-wide 10% pay cut imposed by Martin Goodman. At Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, Hano's handwritten record of the event would form the basis for 1955's A Day in the Bleachers. Despite poor marketing and disappointing sales, the book was critically acclaimed. and eventually regarded as a classic of sports literature, with new editions published in 1982, 2004, and 2006. The book's signature passage—its description of Willie Mays' famous catch—is frequently cited, quoted, Sherwin, Bob. "Griffey And Mays – A New Legend Catches On: Mariners' Ken Griffey Jr. Draws Comparisons With Hall Of Famer Willie Mays For His Defensive Ability – The Kid And The Say Hey Kid". The Seattle Times. July 7, 1991. Retrieved August 30, 2015. See also:
 * Walsh, Joan. "Willie Mays". Salon. July 13, 1999. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
 * Tygiel, Jules. "The Polo Grounds", in Leuchtenburg, William E., editor (2000). American Places: Encounters with History. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 305. ISBN 0-19-513026-X. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
 * Smith, Dr. Terry. "Remembering the great Willie Mays". The Wesleyan Decree. February 22, 20002. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
 * Light, Jonathan Fraser (2005). "Defensive Gems". The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 251. ISBN 0-7864-2087-1. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
 * Saccoman, John. "SABR BioProject: Willie Mays". Society for American Baseball Research. Retrieved 2015-08-30. "At least as impressive as the catch was what happened next: As Arnold Hano described it in A Day in the Bleachers: '[He] whirled and threw like some olden statue of a Greek javelin hurler. ... What an astonishing throw. ... This was the throw of a giant, the throw of a howitzer made human.'"
 * Levin, Josh. "Letter From the Playoffs: On Endy Chávez's catch in the sixth inning of Game 7 of the NLCS". Slate. October 20, 2006. Retrieved 2015-08-30. "Hano's book-length account of Game 1 of the 1954 Series, A Day in the Bleachers, describes Mays' catch for nine beautiful, suspenseful pages. 'Mays simply slowed down to avoid running into the wall, put his hands up in cup-like fashion over his left shoulder, and caught the ball much like a football player catching leading passes in the end zone,' Hano continues..."
 * Aronoff, Jason (2009). "Part II: The Catches". Going, Going ... Caught!: Baseball's Great Outfield Catches as Described by Those Who Saw Them, 1887–1964. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-7864-4113-6. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
 * Hirsch, James S. (2010). "The Catch". Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 194–195. ISBN 978-1-4165-4790-7. Retrieved 2015-08-30. or reprinted in full.

Buoyed by the book's reception, Hano began to establish himself as a freelance writer, his work appearing in publications such as The Saturday Evening Post, Esquire, The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, TV Guide, Sport, Sports Illustrated, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping, Boys' Life, Argosy, Saga Magazine, and True's Baseball Yearbook. He also authored several sports biographies in the 1960s and '70s, including those of Mays, Sandy Koufax, Roberto Clemente, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali. Hano was a frequent contributor to Lion Books' (later Pyramid Books') annual paperback series, Baseball Stars of 19__, providing forty of its chapter-long player profiles between 1958 and 1975, "Arnold Hano 1958 Citations". The Baseball Index. Retrieved August 24, 2015. See also:
 * "Arnold Hano 1959 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1960 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1961 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1962 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1963 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1964 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1965 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1966 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1967 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1968 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1969 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1970 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1971 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1972 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1973 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1974 Citations".
 * "Arnold Hano 1975 Citations" . some of which were collected in Greatest Giants of Them All in 1967. In addition, he wrote film novelizations of Marriage Italian Style (1966), Bandolero! (1969) and Running Wild (1973), published by Popular Library.

On April 7, 1964, Hano was named 1963's Magazine Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association. He also received the 1963 Sidney Hillman Memorial Award for magazine journalism for "Burned Out Americans", a muckraking study of conditions facing migratory farm workers in California's Central Valley.

Hano taught writing at the University of Southern California, Pitzer College, and the University of California, Irvine. and a contributing editor at Orange Coast Magazine (1989–92).

In 2012, Hano became the 12th recipient of Baseball Reliquary's annual Hilda Award, established in 2001 "to recognize distinguished service to the game by a fan." Four years later, with his induction into the Shrine of the Eternals, Hano became the first person to be honored twice by the Baseball Reliquary.

In 2015, The Huffington Post announced the release of ''Hano! A Century in the Bleachers,'' a documentary of Arnold Hano's life and work, produced and directed by Jon Leonoudakis. Among its interviewees are Hano and fellow sportswriters Ron Rapoport, Ray Robinson, John Schulian, Al Silverman and George Vecsey, plus artist Mark Ulriksen, and former Major League players (and subjects of Hano's articles) Orlando Cepeda and Felipe Alou.

Personal life
Hano had two children (Stephen A. and Susan C. Hano) by his first marriage, and a daughter, Laurel, by his second, the former Bonnie Abraham.

From September 1955, the Hanos resided in Laguna Beach, besides a two-year Peace Corps stint in Costa Rica in 1991. Hano was instrumental in writing and promoting a 1971 voter initiative establishing a 36-foot height limit on new buildings; with close to 62 percent of the city's registered voters participating, the measure was approved by a better than 3-to-1 margin. In 2013, Hano and his wife were honored as Laguna Beach "Citizens of the Year" in the city's annual Patriot's Day Parade.

Hano died on October 24, 2021, at his home in Laguna Beach, California. He was 99 years old.

Written by Hano

 * "Hanging Ten at Coronado". Boys' Life. July 1965. pp. 22–23.
 * Whittaker, James (with Hano). "Fit to Climb a Mountain". Boys' Life. March 1966. pp. 34–35, 38–39.
 * "Roberto Clemente: Baseball's Brightest Superstar". Boys' Life. March 1968. pp. 24–25 and 54.
 * "Scouting in Tahiti". Boys' Life. February 1969. pp. 34–37.
 * "Model–A Explorers of Orinda". Boys' Life. October 1969. pp. 32–33.
 * "Who's No. 1? C-O-M-P-T-O-N!". Boys' Life. February 1970. pp. 26–27 and 57–58.
 * "Madrid: The City Simpatico". Boys' Life. January 1970. pp. 34, 75–76.
 * "That's Our Good Boy Scout Talking". Scouting. February 1971. pp. 33–35.
 * "Why is Archie Bunker So Lovable". The Chicago Tribune. Sunday, March 12, 1972. Section 1A, pp. 1 and 6.
 * "By the Light of the Midnight Sun". Boys' Life. February 1973. pp. 32–33, 70–73.
 * "Bill McChesney: The Little Machine". Boys' Life. October 1976. pp. 26–29.
 * "Greg Louganis: Diving Sensation at 16". Boys' Life. August 1977. pp. 28–31.
 * "The Magical World of Greg Wilson". Boys' Life. October 1978. pp. 20–23.
 * "Her First Name is Chief". Scouting. Volume 74, Number 1, January–February 1986. pp. 21–24.
 * Cosby, Bill (with Hano). "High School Was a Load of Laughs". Boys' Life. December 1986. pp. 42–44.
 * "Coasting: Exercising Restraint". Orange Coast Magazine. October 1989. pp. 158–160.
 * "In Retrospect: Serving Time in the Jury Box". Orange Coast Magazine. October 1990. pp. 192–195.
 * "In Retrospect: Life with Alfie". Orange Coast Magazine. November 1990. pp. 232–234.
 * "In Retrospect: Over 26,000 Served". Orange Coast Magazine. December 1990. pp. 325–327.
 * "A Love Affair With the Press". Orange Coast Magazine. February 1991. pp. 152–154.
 * "In Retrospect: Jim Thompson Stories Don't Have Happy Endings". Orange Coast Magazine. March 1991. pp. 165–167.
 * "In Retrospect: Three Score and Nine". Orange Coast Magazine. April 1991. pp. 150–151.
 * "In Retrospect: Views From Abroad". Orange Coast Magazine. May 1991. pp. 165–167.
 * "OC Forum: O.C. Can You Say?". Orange Coast Magazine. July 1991. p. 8.
 * "In Retrospect: Loose Ends". Orange Coast Magazine. August 1991. pp. 142–143.
 * "In Retrospect: Live From Costa Rica". Orange Coast Magazine. September 1991. pp. 149–151.
 * "In Retrospect: Mi Familia". Orange Coast Magazine. November 1991. p. 157–158.
 * "In Retrospect: Ya Voy Already". Orange Coast Magazine. March 1992. pp. 144–145, 147, 149.
 * "In Retrospect: Juan Valdez Would Have Starved to Death". Orange Coast Magazine. May 1992. pp. 120–123 and 125.
 * "In Retrospect: Much Ado About Nothing". Orange Coast Magazine. June 1992. pp. 152, 154–155.
 * "The View From the Stands". Los Angeles Times. April 2, 2006.
 * Hano, Bonnie; Hano, Arnold. "Our Raymond, Our Friend". RaymondLieberman@Blogspot.com. Wednesday, May 10, 2010.

Written about Hano

 * McLellan, Dennis. "Living On Peace Work : Laguna Beach Couple Join the Ranks of Corps' Older Recruits". Los Angeles Times. June 21, 1991.
 * Vecsey, George. "Hazy Sunshine, Vivid Memory". The New York Times. September 29, 2004.
 * Epting, Chris. "Back to the Bleachers," Pts. 1 and 2. Los Angeles Times. August 27, 2006.
 * Waddles, Hank. "Bronx Banter Interview: Arnold Hano, Part I". Alex Belth's Bronx Banter. September 25, 2009.
 * Waddles, Hank. "Bronx Banter Interview: Arnold Hano, Part II".
 * Nolan, Michelle (2010). "Arnold Hano's Innovative 'The Big Out'". Ball Tales: A Study of Baseball, Basketball and Football Fiction of the 1930s through 1960s. . pp. 50–53. ISBN 978-0-7864-3985-0.
 * Henrikson, Maggi. "Arnold Hano and his infectious zest for life". Laguna Life and People. February 3, 2015.
 * Alderton, Bryce. "Man who covered the greats now in the spotlight". Laguna Beach Coast Pilot. September 17, 2015.

Books
Non-fiction Fiction (all paperback except as indicated)
 * A Day in the Bleachers by Arnold Hano (Da Capo Press, 1955, 2004). ISBN 0-306-81322-X.
 * The Big Out, sports novel by Arnold Hano (Barnes hardcover, 1951)
 * Valley of Angry Men, western novel as by Matthew Gant (Gold Medal Books, 1953)
 * The Flesh Painter, historical novel about artist Paul Gauguin as by Ad Gordon (Lion Library Books, 1953)
 * Slade, western novel as by Ad Gordon (Lion Library Books, 1956)
 * So I'm a Heel, noir thriller as by Mike Heller (Gold Medal Books, 1957)
 * The Manhunter, western novel as by Matthew Gant (Signet Books, 1957)
 * Flint, western novel as by Gil Dodge (Signet Books, 1957)
 * The Last Notch, western novel as by Matthew Gant (Pyramid Books, 1958); reissued as by Arnold Hano (Stark House, 2017)
 * The Raven and the Sword, historical novel about politician Sam Houston as by Matthew Gant (Coward-McCann hardcover, 1960; Signet Books paperback reprint, 1961)
 * Queen Street, non-genre novel as by Matthew Gant (Regency Books, 1963)
 * The Executive, non-genre novel by Arnold Hano (Signet Books, 1964)
 * Marriage Italian Style by Arnold Hano, inferred novelization of the uncredited screenplay by Eduardo De Filippo, Renato Castellani, Tonino Guerra, Leo Benvenuti and Piero De Bernardi (Popular Library, 1965)
 * Bandolero! by Arnold Hano, novelization of the Western movie screenplay by James Lee Barrett, from a story by Stanley Hough (Popular Library, 1967)
 * 'Running Wild' by Arnold Hano, novelization of the screenplay by Finley Hunt, Robert McCahon and Maurice Tomeragel from a story by McCahon (Popular Library, 1973)
 * 3 Steps to Hell by Arnold Hano, omnibus edition reprint of three novels: So I'm a Heel, Flint, and The Big Out (Stark House, 2012)