Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son [Hardcover]

Gene Stallings (Author), Sally Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 11, 1997

When beloved University of Alabama football coach Gene Stallings's son was born with Down syndrome and a serious heart defect, doctors predicted he wouldn't live to see his first birthday and urged Coach Stallings and his wife to institutionalize him. But for Gene and Ruth Ann that was not an option. Johnny quickly won the hearts and adoration of the Stallings family and everyone who took the time to know him, and, proving the doctors wrong by leading an active life, he became a vital and important part of his family, his community, and his father's career. With intimate glimpses of family life and thrilling football anecdotes, ANOTHER SEASON is brimming with poignant lessons about defying the odds and finding joy in every moment.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Stallings made the University of Alabama football team one of the nation's best, but far more significant is the love and support he has given his son Johnny, born in 1962 with Down syndrome and now a thriving member of the Stallings family.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Famed football coach Stallings, aided by journalist Cook, combines a short history of his tough professional career with the affectionate story of his son, Johnny, who is burdened with Down's syndrome. In a simply told tale, Stallings, who carries the honorific ``Coach'' proudly, chronicles his accomplishments on the gridiron with great modesty. He has, clearly, more pride in the attainments of Johnny, who, now in his 30s, has come to his own kind of manhood with the innocence and sweetness that seem characteristic badges of Down's syndrome. More a homespun family memoir than a jock's saga, this volume neglects neither homage to Coach's hero and mentor, the fabled ``Bear'' Bryant, nor details of his own hirings and firings, from Texas A&M to the Cowboys and, finally, as heir to the ``Bear'' at the University of Alabama. Inevitably, the scoreboards told Coach Stallings's fortune. Known as ``Bebes'' to intimates, he yearned for a son, stalwart, smart, and strapping, maybe an all- star linebacker. ``A football coach needs a son who will play football,'' he would hear his wife say. Instead, they had three girls and Johnny, disabled and frail. Withal, Bebes and his wife came to terms with their melancholy and fears. The family and those close to them took Johnny to their hearts. With his winning personality, he became a favorite of his father's players and staff and, eventually, the fans. And Coach Bebes, seeking gridiron glory and often finding it, seems to have found something better through his exceptional son. It's an artless story, told quite prosaically. But while clearly deeply felt, it never quite catches fire. A nice book by a nice man, nothing more; but nothing less, either, and that should not be easily dismissed. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) (TV and radio satellite tours) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1st edition (August 11, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316811963
• ISBN-13: 978-0316811965
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #345,019 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It made me laugh, it made me cry., August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son (Hardcover)

As a parent of a young boy with Down Syndrome I very much enjoyed this book and recomend it to any new parent. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it opened my eyes to see how far the world has come with accepting people with disabilities. And just to know that there are parents before me who struggled with their child just as I struggle with mine and they too learned to live in a whole new world. And celebrated every little accomplishment just as we do with our son.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching, heartfelt, will reach the soul of all who read, January 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Another Season: A Coach's Story of Raising an Exceptional Son (Hardcover)

Gene Stallings is a man's man. A father's father. He was, and still is, a great coach, husband, and teacher. Yet he has a tender compassion not always seen in men of his calling. He owes much of that part of him to his son and he knows it. He has taken the sorrow and pain his family bore and turned it into an story of amazing hard work, courage, and love. This book should be one of the first things read by a couple faced with the reality of a Down Syndrome baby. Coach Stallings shows us there is life after DS, and it can be very good, indeed,it can be wonderful.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A solid -- if difficult -- story, told by a solid man, May 25, 2004

By 

NCTejana (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Another Season (Paperback)

I received this book unexpectedly after making a donation to my alma mater, from which Coach Stallings' daughters also graduated. Until then, I didn't even know the story had been written. The book fascinated me from many angles -- as a teacher, as the sister of someone born with a congenital handicap (whose parents were likewise advised to put him in an institution), as a reader of this genre of literature, and most of all, as someone who as a kid knew and adored John Mark Stallings.

Many have commented on the way the author plainly tells his early disappointments, fears, and frustrations at having his only son be born with such apparent limitations. I, too, initially felt uncomfortable. However, I came to admire Mr. Stallings' willingness to expose to scorn the ideas that he had back in the 1960s and 70s, ideas that over the course of the book he does slowly show to have been mistaken. By the end of the book it is clear he realizes that people born with Down syndrome are far more capable and have a more meaningful life than was dreamed of at the time John Mark was born. The narrative also puts into perspective the origins of those ideas.

The end result is an honest portrait by an unfailingly honest man, and the book shows the strong and loving relationship between Johnny and his father today.

-- Andrea