The Old Man, by Bob Labbance, copies available (Link added for all orders)

[Ronald Montesano]

Ed Homsey posted this to the Walter J. Travis Society Facebook page. I'm reposting here, with permission of the Society President.


If you haven't read the Travis biography, The Old Man, by Bob Labbance, you should.  It was among the last, if not the last, golf-related book published by Sleeping Bear Press, and I know that Bob was very disappointed with their lack of attention to the book, e.g. they failed to include a foreward written by Tom Doak.  But, it is the content of the book that is so valuable.  The Travis Society has a small number of signed, and unopened copies.  We would be very happy to send one to you.  Travis Society members' price is $50, plus $5 shipping, and non-member price is $75, plus $4 shipping.  Send your check, money order, paypal to:  The Walter J. Travis Society, 49 S. Main St., P.O. Box 386, Elba, NY  14058.  We'll get it right out to you.

[Tom_Doak]

Damn, that's another book foreword I forgot I had written.  Will have to scan it for my web site.  Travis is a fine subject and The Old Man does justice to him.

[Erik J. Barzeski]

Ed Homsey posted this to the Walter J. Travis Society Facebook page. I'm reposting here, with permission of the Society President.


If you haven't read the Travis biography, The Old Man, by Bob Labbance, you should.  It was among the last, if not the last, golf-related book published by Sleeping Bear Press, and I know that Bob was very disappointed with their lack of attention to the book, e.g. they failed to include a foreward written by Tom Doak.  But, it is the content of the book that is so valuable.  The Travis Society has a small number of signed, and unopened copies.  We would be very happy to send one to you.  Travis Society members' price is $50, plus $5 shipping, and non-member price is $75, plus $4 shipping.  Send your check, money order, paypal to:  The Walter J. Travis Society, 49 S. Main St., P.O. Box 386, Elba, NY  14058.  We'll get it right out to you.

Ronald, do you have the information should I want to PayPal them? Or the link to their Facebook page?


Edit: sorry, lazy moment. Their Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1668946203366702 .

[Ronald Montesano]

I need to paste a copy of that forward into my copy.


Bob Labbance. Great guy gone waaaayyy before his time. He had invited me to play Myopia about a year before he was diagnosed, and so we never got around to it. I looked forward to playing with him, as much as I did the golf course.

[Tim_Weiman]

Ed Homsey posted this to the Walter J. Travis Society Facebook page. I'm reposting here, with permission of the Society President.


If you haven't read the Travis biography, The Old Man, by Bob Labbance, you should.  It was among the last, if not the last, golf-related book published by Sleeping Bear Press, and I know that Bob was very disappointed with their lack of attention to the book, e.g. they failed to include a foreward written by Tom Doak.  But, it is the content of the book that is so valuable.  The Travis Society has a small number of signed, and unopened copies.  We would be very happy to send one to you.  Travis Society members' price is $50, plus $5 shipping, and non-member price is $75, plus $4 shipping.  Send your check, money order, paypal to:  The Walter J. Travis Society, 49 S. Main St., P.O. Box 386, Elba, NY  14058.  We'll get it right out to you.

Ron,


The Travis book is part of my golf architecture book collection and I would recommend it to those interested in his work.


However, I can’t help but offer a different perspective on Sleeping Bear Press. To my knowledge, Brian Lewis has done as much to support the publication of golf architecture related books as anyone in the business. It is not a large market, obviously, but for golf architecture junkies like many of us at GCA, Brian made a great contribution that should be noted and appreciated.


Honestly, I am surprised that Tom Doak’s forward was not included. Brian has supported Tom’s publishing efforts, including encouraging significant revisions of the original draft of the Alister Mackenzie book that Tom co-authored. I am confident the final product turned out to be quite different and far better than the original draft.


Best of luck encouraging others to add the Travis book to their collection.

[Ronald Montesano]

I agree that SBP was a wonder. I have soooo many books from their brief existence. I didn't realize how fortunate we were, until we no longer had them.

[Tommy Williamsen]

Amazon has it as well.


https://www.amazon.com/Old-Man-Biography-Walter-Travis/dp/1886947910/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=The+Old+Man%2C+by+Bob+Labbance&qid=1613753477&sr=8-1

[PCCraig]

Thanks for the heads up. I ended up ordering a copy.

[Ronald Montesano]

I'm guessing that the Amazon ones aren't autographed. Also, I'd hope that we would support the architect society before Amazon.

[Tim_Weiman]

I agree that SBP was a wonder. I have soooo many books from their brief existence. I didn't realize how fortunate we were, until we no longer had them.

Ron,


Brian Lewis should be one of Ran’s interviewees.

[Ronald Montesano]

Tim,

I agree. I would say that this would be a poorer tree house without the work of Brian Lewis. From TD's Confidential Guide, to Bahto's Evangelist of Golf, and everything in between, Sleeping Bear Press gave the new golden age of golf course architecture a literary canon.

[Ronald Montesano]

The new webmaster-in-training has created an order form for The Old Man FROM THE SOCIETY, FOR THE SOCIETY and the link is here.

https://form.jotform.com/210536483785160

[Anthony Gholz]

Just received my copy.  Very nice and will be prominent on my gca shelf.  My only disappointment is that very few of his drawings are shown.  I also wish I would have made the visit to Grand'mere (thanks Ed!) before this was written, as they have some very nice Travis drawings, a full 9-holes worth!  Travis came to GM just a couple years before Alison showed up in June 1921.  Alison added 9+, keeping a couple of the Travis originals including a 90 degree dog left around an OB fence in the original old town.


Anthony

[Ronald Montesano]

Anthony,


Thank you for your thoughts and for your purchase. The Society is grateful for your support. Let us know what you think of Bob's work. We are proud of his research, and miss him dearly.


rm