The Author Events Series presents Ray Didinger | Look What the Kid Wrote Today
In Conversation with Michael Barkann
When Ray Didinger was a young sports columnist, his proud grandfather would tape his articles on the mirror of his Southwest Philadelphia bar and tell his customers, “Look what the kid wrote today.” That phrase is now the title of Didinger’s latest book, a fond look back on his award-winning career.
In Look What the Kid Wrote Today, Didinger reflects on walking the historic Merion golf course with Jack Nicklaus, shooting pool with Mean Joe Greene, touring Foxcatcher Farms with John du Pont and hanging out with Mark Wahlberg on the set of Invincible. He also writes about helping to heal the rift between the Philadelphia Eagles and arguably their greatest player, Chuck Bednarik. It is a story that went untold until now.
Didinger takes the reader through the many stages of his fifty-plus years in sports media, from his time as an Emmy Award-winning producer at NFL Films, which involved writing scripts for the likes of Tom Selleck, Gary Busey, and Oscar winner James Coburn. Now a playwright, Didinger also devotes a chapter to the 2025 premiere of his critically acclaimed production Spinner.
Candid and insightful, Look What the Kid Wrote Today is Didinger at his best.
Ray Didinger is a former sports columnist for the Philadelphia Bulletin and Philadelphia Daily News. He was named Pennsylvania Sportswriter of the Year five times. He won six Emmy Awards as a writer and producer with NFL Films. He has authored or coauthored a dozen books and was the first print journalist inducted into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. Didinger was a talk show host on 94WIP Sports Radio and football analyst for NBC Sports Philadelphia. In 1995, he won the Bill Nunn Award for his long and distinguished reporting on professional football and his name was added to the Writers Honor Roll at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Michael Barkann is one of Philadelphia’s most respected sports broadcasters, with more than 30 years covering the city’s teams, athletes, and major sporting events. An original member of NBC Sports Philadelphia since its launch in 1997, he currently hosts the network’s Philadelphia Eagles and Philadelphia Phillies pregame and postgame coverage after more than two decades leading its signature sports talk programming. Beyond Philadelphia, Barkann has covered major national and international events for USA Networks and CBS Sports, including three Winter Olympic Games, two NCAA Final Fours, and nearly 20 years of U.S. Open tennis coverage. A six-time Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award winner, he has also been named Pennsylvania Sportscaster of the Year seven times.
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