Randy Roberts is a Distinguished Professor of History at Purdue and the author of several books on sports, race, and pop culture, includingRising Tide: Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, and Dixie’s Last Quarter, Joe Louis: Hard Times Man, Jack Dempsey: The Manassa Mauler, andJohn Wayne: American. His biography of Joe Louis was named a Best Book of 2010 byKirkus and Choice, his biography of John Wayne won the Pat and Ray Browne National Book Award in 1995, and his book on the Alamo was the Texas Historical Foundation’s Deolece Parmalee Award. Roberts was a consultant for HBO’s documentaryJoe Louis: America's HeroBetrayed and for Ken Burns’ Emmy-winning PBS documentaryUnforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson.
Johnny Smith earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University and was recently appointed Assistant Professor in Sports History at Georgia Tech. He is the author ofThe Sons of Westwood, which was named an Outstanding Academic Title” by Choice.
