Customer Reviews

Harry the K: The Remarkable Life of Harry Kalas

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Many across the country may not know "Harry the K", but nonetheless, you need to read this book! You may start out not knowing who he was, and it pains me to use that in the past tense, but you likely knew his voice.

This is a story about a solitary, humble man, whose tremendous kindnesses and generosity became legend to the millions who came to know him.

People outside of the broadcasting reach of Philadelphia heard his Campbell Chunky Soup commercials, his Coors Light promotions and many, many others.

He picked up the mantel when John Facenda, the man known as NFL Films' "Voice of God" left us. He did Notre Dame football and basketball. He was the voice of Westwood One's weekly NFL radio broadcast.

But, to those of us in reach of the Philadelphia airwaves, Harry was for thirty-eight years our closest friend and the play-by-play announcer for the Phillies.

At the end, as Mike Jack Schmidt said in his eloquent eulogy, "If you can look past Ben Franklin and William Penn, Harry Kalas might have been the greatest person to ever grace Philadelphia".

I consider myself somewhat a student of history. Schmidt was right!

This is a book that will interest you, captivate you, make you laugh, anger you and make you cry; the latter especially so if you are from Philadelphia or its surrounds. In fact, the final three chapters are absolutely heart-wrenching!

This is not a book about baseball. It's not a book about Philadelphia. It is a very well researched and written book by Randy Miller about a wonderful, wonderful fun loving, good man, who had flaws like the rest of us. But, boy, what virtues! As for now, I'm "outta heeeeere!"

I'm from New York, so outside of a couple of games on the "Extra Innings" package hearing Harry Kalas doing baseball, my exposure to him was strictly NFL Films & commercials. I was a little unsure buying this book, but I have to say it was excellent. The chapter on the feud with fellow Phillies broadcaster Chris Wheeler is especially fascinating & probably worth getting just for that. But overall, this is a fine story of a flawed man who achieved greatness & adulation for his work & the person he was. This is probably what a lot of biographies should be, telling of a life with warts and all, but without getting bogged down by it or alternately giving only scant attention to it. I imagine Philadelphia fans would appreciate it even more than I did. One of the best baseball or biographies in general that I've read in a long while.

Randy Miller has put together a brilliant, revealing and pointed portrayal of the life and times of the baritone grand master. He has, in a manner respectful to Harry and his family, told the stories that his other colleagues in the Philadelphia media were too afraid to tell. The reader also learns a lot about the lives of Richie Ashburn and Chris Wheeler, related to and independent of their interactions with Harry. The book is a must for any lifelong Phillies fan.

I asked for Harry the K: The Remarkable Life of Harry Kalas by Randy Miller for my birthday this year. The request wasn't because I'm a Phillies-fan--I am, but a marginal one at best. My reasons for this request were twofold. First, I was awed by the outpouring of affection for Harry by Philadelphia fans when he passed away last year. And second, book reviews that I read were intriguing. Harry's first and second wives both collaborated with Randy Miller and both approved of the final book, although neither wife speaks to the other. Sports writer Randy Miller has given us a biography as enjoyable and interesting as Harry Kalas was in person.

I think that Kalas can best be described as a "character." The son of a minister, Harry was a wild-child who gravitated toward alcohol, cigarettes, and women. He was also gifted with a rich, baritone voice. From a very young age, his goal was to become a sports announcer. He got his big break when he was hired as a sportscaster for a minor league baseball team in Hawaii. From there, he went to Houston and finally landed with the Philadelphia Phillies, where he remained until his death in a broadcasting booth 39 years later. Miller pulls no punches and gives an honest look at Harry's life, warts and all. On the plus side, he was a genuinely kind and likeable man, always willing to give of himself. On the minus side, he liked to party a little too hard, drink a little too much, and cheated on both wives. He started seeing second wife, Eileen (and they had a child together) before he was divorced from first wife, Jasmine.

Miller divides Harry the K into chapters that deal with all facets of Harry's life. They include his other broadcasting jobs (he advertised Coors Light, Campbell Soups and was a voice of NFL Films), his relationship with his long-time partner, Richie Ashburn (His Whiteness), his feud with fellow broadcaster Chris Wheeler, and his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. But Harry the K is also fascinating in that it shows the evolution of broadcasting in both Major League Baseball and the National Football League. Miller claims that NFL Films made football more appealing with "field-level camera angles, slow-motion footage, sounds from the sidelines--all set to music and punctuated by creative narration. As the popularity of NFL Films exploded, the popularity of the league did the same. Unable to compete with America's pastime prior to the late 1960s, the NFL eventually surpassed, then blew away Major League Baseball in television ratings."

Harry the K includes dozens of photos of Harry, his family, his colleagues, the athletes he worked with, his awards, his funeral and his final resting place. The book also includes a forward by Mike Schmidt and a special introduction by Ryan Howard. My only complaint was that the index was somewhat lacking, but this gripe was not enough to take away any stars. Otherwise, since I finished Harry the K, I understand why Kalas was so beloved and why he will always be a legend in Phillies' history. As he would have said, "this book is outta here!"

I really enjoyed the book. Harry was the voice of baseball for me since I was a kid. As the author notes up front, I am sure he struggled with what to include in the book since some of the stories about Harry are unflatterring but, he becomes redundant apparrently thinking the reader has forgotten what he read just a few chapters or pages earlier. From my persepctive, if you can get over this issue you'll enjoy it. I am encouraging others to read it.

Harry the K, as somebody said, has narrated the memories of a whole city. Between the Phillies, NFL films and numerous commercial voice-overs Kalas' voice has been with Philly for 40 or so years. By all accounts, including this one, Harry was one of a kind...great company...outgoing...kind and in most ways a helluva guy. He was with the Phils through more than a few lean years and made it to see their last World Series; always with relentless optimism and high hopes.

The author doesn't spare telling us about the rough patches in his life. This isn't a hagiography. But even with all the warts, Harry still seems like a guy you'd really like to know.

The writing is generally good, but would've benefited from a stern editor who would screen redundancies and over-used phrases.

Its not War and Peace, but it is a darn good book if you care about Philly sports and especially about the Phillies. Mets fans would also benefit from reading the book; if only to see what a good organization looks like. (snicker)

I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE BOOK, BUT WHO WOULDN'T BE WHEN IT'S ABOUT HARRY KALAS, HE WAS ONE GREAT PERSON, I HAD THE PLEASURE OF MEETING HIM A FEW TIMES AND GETTING HIS AUTOGRAPH, IN THE RICHIE ASHBURN BOOK. I WAS VERY PLEASED WITH THE AMOUNT OF TIME IT TOOK TO GET HERE, IT WAS AN EASTER PRESENT FOR MY GRANDDAUGHTER AND SHE WAS THRILLED WITH IT ALSO.

As a Phils fan, and a fan of Harry the K, I feel Randy Miller did a really nice job. It isn't a gloss piece, but tells the remarkable life of Harry the K.

This is a book any Phillies Fan should read. I learned a lot about Harry,somethings need not have been told, but..... as everyone knows, no one is perfect. I miss hearing his beautiful voice while watching the games. I had a school-girl crush (big time) on Richie when he was a Whiz Kid and still miss him. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed hearing Harry call the game.

A very interesting book. Nice work considering it hasn't been a year since Harry passed away. Ironically, it reads like a play-by-play of Harry's life. It flows very smoothly from Harry's childhood to Harry's memorial service. Although I've heard some of the stories over the years, there are a few very interesting stories in addition to some very touching and funny stories.

You can't ask for much more from a biography unless Harry had written it himself. The sad part is Harry didn't write this book. It would have been so great to read Harry's perspective of his 39 years in Philadelphia.