Gooder: The Writings of Marty Crowe

MARINETTE – For many, the name Marty Crowe invokes fond memories of days in the classroom with their teacher or playing basketball on the court. However, no one remembers the man behind the basketball legends quite like his daughter Maureen Slauson.

Slauson recently put Crowe’s legacy to paper in his own words with “Gooder: The Writings of Marty Crowe Selected from Five Decades of His Thoughts On Teaching, Coaching, Humanity, God, and Life.” While Slauson had always wanted a way to formally commemorate the legacy of her father, she never set out with the intention of creating a book.

Crowe became a figure of legend for his coaching talents, which took Marinette Catholic Central, now known as St. Thomas Aquinas Academy, to the 1964 WCIAA state title game where Marinette broke Xavier High School’s 49-game winning streak to take home the title.

Outside of basketball, Crowe had diverse interests he enjoyed writing about, which ranged from politics to religion. These various writings became the basis for Slauson’s book.

She recounted how snippings of articles he wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, Milwaukee Journal and his column in the Diocese of Green Bay newsletter had sat in the closet of her family home for so long that the cardboard boxes disintegrated.

Slauson took a moment to recognize her mother, Helen, for saving all of the clippings, “But I’ll tell you, she was a partner in what he was doing because there were hard times.”

She continued, “[My mother] was always there. So, I mean, none of this would have happened without her.”

Her project began with trips to her favorite coffee shop, where she sorted articles by topic into a 50-page spreadsheet.

Slauson recounted, “so much of what he was writing about is applicable to today. And I thought, ‘Wow, I can’t just put these back in a box.’ So, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I was just organizing and I kept referring to it as my project.”

With encouragement from a friend who is an author as well as the operator of the publishing press at UW-Stevens Point, who took Slauson’s book on as an independent project, she quickly began finalizing the plan for her book.

Having the majority of the writing coming directly from Crowe was important to Slauson, who explained “When I was reading this, the thing that was so surprising to me was that it was like hearing his voice. It was like he was there. There’s just something about some people’s writing.”

Many of Crowe’s pieces drew from his life experiences, such as his childhood in Stillwater, Minnesota.

Crowe’s father was a book binder that ran for a seat in the Minnesota Legislature on a Farmer-Labor Party ticket. He faced great opposition because “back when [the party] was forming, they were accused of being communist Bolsheviks and all that. To be running on a Farmer-Labor ticket was a controversial thing,” Slauson explained.

While Crowe campaigned with his father he saw the opposition first-hand, even experiencing people throwing eggs from their car at him. He carried this memory with him for a long time and it inspired Crowe to always stand up for what he believed in.

As an adult, Crowe moved around Wisconsin while searching for a job that truly inspired him. He discovered his love of teaching and coaching and was able to channel his religious beliefs when he started working at Marinette Catholic Central in 1959.

Slauson recounted the 12 years her father spent working there, “He loved Marinette, he loved being there and he loved the school. Many of those stories were [my siblings and my’s] growing up years. So, there are many stories in the book about Marinette, including the state tournament, which was a highlight.”

While Crowe’s retirement approached, letters of appreciation continued to flow in from students he interacted with. Slauson said, “He loved young people, loved working with them. And that comes out in the book because he wrote about it often.”

Marty Crowe passed away in 1999 at the age of 85 while living in a nursing home. While his health quickly deteriorated during the end, Slauson still shared beautiful moments with her father.

The two pieces that Slauson wrote for the compilation, some of the only pieces of her own writing within the book, involved memories she made with Crowe shortly before his passing. “Joyride” is one of these chapters, which Slauson said is about “when I visited my dad at the nursing home and took him out for a ride in his wheelchair one day. That was one of our last times [together].”

Reflecting on all of the work that has gone into “Gooder,” Slauson stated, “He always wanted to write a book. I found [files] where he had all of the addresses for publishing houses.”

She continued, “In fact, his last column for the Diocese of Green Bay paper was a goodbye to his readers and he mentioned that people had talked about putting a book together. He said, ‘as far as I know, nothing ever came of that.’ I have to smile when I read that. Well, now there’s something, dad.”

While Slauson is certain this book will appeal to those who knew Crowe, it has also been enjoyed by those that never met him.

She shared that her church’s bookclub chose to read her book, recounting, “none of those people knew my dad, but they loved the book. So, I know he can still speak to people today and it’s not just the people who he did know. I hope that people read it because I had great fun writing it.”

Maureen Slauson will be returning to the area on Saturday, May 10 from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for a book signing event at the Stephenson Public Library.

“Gooder: The Writings of Marty Crowe Selected from Five Decades of His Thoughts On Teaching, Coaching, Humanity, God, and Life” is available for sale both in person through local bookstores and online through major websites such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.