Veteran Connecticut journalist James Herbert Smith will discuss his sixth book, “Baseball’s Greatest Players: The Story of John Ellis and the Fight Against Cancer,” on Wednesday, July 14 at 7 p.m. via Zoom.
Smith is the latest author to speak as part of the nearly 11-year-old Eaton-Dimock-King Authors Series, which is sponsored by the Tolland Public Library Foundation.
The book, which is being published on July 4, recounts the story of New London native John Ellis’ 13-year career with the New Yankees, Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers.
After his baseball career, Ellis contracted cancer and through surgeries, survived. He and his wife, Jane, then established the Connecticut Cancer Foundation.
“This must-read book shows you the person (John) became, saving countless lives with his and his wife Jane’s tireless work to help cancer patients,” Michael Kay of the YES network and ESPN said.
Smith has been a journalist in Connecticut for 50 years. Among other positions, he has served as city editor and sports editor of The Hartford Courant, editor of the Connecticut Post in Bridgeport and managing editor of The Day in New London. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors for his columns on the free press, has served as president of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors and was the long-time president of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information.
Since 2010, the EDK series has brought well-known authors to Tolland, including Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists Dan Barry, Steven G. Smith and Susan Campbell; Chris Knopf, Caragh O’Brien, Dawn Metcalf, Denis Horgan, Jeff Goldberg, Cindy Rodriguez, Susan Schoenberger and Lucy Anne Hurston.
In 2019, Smith spoke as part of the Tolland author series about the book he edited featuring columns by 63 women journalists in Connecticut, “Opinionated Women in the Land of Steady Habits.”
The talk is free, but audience members must register ahead of time to receive the Zoom link. Please register by clicking on the online events calendar at tolland.org/library.

Author James Herbert Smith