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Vince Lombardi: Memories of a Special Time (1988)

From the dust jacket notes: “…Loved, hated, admired, feared, praised and condemned — a man who aroused only the strongest of emotions — Lombardi coached the Green Bay Packers for nine seasons and, during this memorable time, together they won six divisional titles, five N.F.L. Championships and the first two Super Bowls. Then, after one restless year away from coaching, he took over the head-coaching job of the Washington Redskins and promptly drove the Redskins to their first winning season in 14 years. Vince Lombardi: Memories of a Special Time is the inspiring story of professional football's greatest coach, his winning football men and the dynasty that they built together. Here you will follow Lombardi from the early, formative years where he labored in obscurity at Fordham, St. Cecilia's and West Point, then later as an assistant to Jim Lee Howell with the New York Giants, and finally those unforgettable years with the Packers and the Redskins. Here are the battles that he and his teams endured together: the championships won, the miracles, the glory, the tears. Most importantly, you'll learn of the real impact that Lombardi, the coach, had upon his men as he drove them to obtain a pinnacle of success that has never again been equaled by any team, in any sport.” 

Front and rear flaps. 

In the center of the book, there are a few pages of black and white images. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Vince Lombardi: Memories of a Special Time

By Mike Bynum

October Football Corp. (1988)

213 pages

The Pack Fights Back (1987)

One might wonder why we needed a book to focus on the 1986 Green Bay Packers, but here we have one. The Pack Fights Back features a subhead of “Can Fresh Faces Turn Things Around?” Forrest Gregg had taken over the struggling team after the firing of Bart Starr following the 1983 season. His first two years (1984-85) ended with 8-8 records each year, and 1986 found the team mired in a 4-12 debacle. So, someone decided that they needed to produce this book to highlight the stellar season and the rampant optimism going into the 1987 campaign. While it appears to be more of a magazine, it is listed as a book, so we’ve added it to our feature on Green Bay Packers-related books that you’re enjoying this off-season.

Most of the book contains text and large black and white photos. 

In the center of the book, there are a few pages of full-color action of your ’86 Packers. 

The back cover.

The book is out of print and hard to find.

The Pack Fights Back: Can Fresh Faces Turn Things Around?

By George Sauerberg and Vernon Biever (photographer)

Bonus Books (1987)

80 pages

Starr: My Life in Football (1987)

From Publishers Weekly: “Starr was an undistinguished quarterback at the University of Alabama and with the Green Bay Packers until Vince Lombardi arrived in Wisconsin. Even then, it seemed as if the new coach accepted Starr only with reluctance, but the gamble paid off and the outstanding play of the young man helped lead the Packers to five championships in seven years plus several other winning seasons. Starr and Olderman (author of “The Pro Quarterback”) present a picture of Lombardi at variance with the general image in Starr: My Life in Football; they show a man driven to push his players to the level of excellence he was sure each of them could achieve, certainly not a tyrant or a monster. The second part of the book, about Starr's disappointing years as the Green Bay coach, is less absorbing and comes as something of an anticlimax, particularly in its detailing of the games he masterminded.” 

 The front and rear flaps.

Our first-edition copy is autographed. 

As with most biographies, there is a selection of photos in the center of the book. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Starr: My Life in Football

By Bart Starr with Murray Olderman

William Morrow & Company, Inc. (1987)

224 pages

The History of the Green Bay Packers — The Lambeau Years, Part Two (1987)

Volume Two of Larry D. Names’ history of the Green Bay Packers franchise focuses, as the title suggests, on the Curly Lambeau years — further on. Covering the years 1932-45, the Packers grow from a small town team to champions again to the precipice of the years of struggle. Invaluable material for amateur football historians and professionals alike. 

The front and rear flaps.  

Historical photos are again featured in the center of the book. 

Some reviews of the first volume on the back cover.

Find your copy here.

The History of the Green Bay Packers — The Lambeau Years, Part Two

By Larry D. Names

Angel Press of Wisconsin (1987)

238 pages

The History of the Green Bay Packers — The Lambeau Years, Part One (1987)

We now come to a set of books that are relatively hard to find — compared to other more recent Packer books — the four-volume set from author Larry D. Names. This first volume, The History of the Green Bay Packers — The Lambeau Years, Part One sets the tone for the other books with exhaustive research and re-discovered history of the franchise’s early days. These books were written in the years when the on-field team was nothing to write home about, and before the revival of the franchise which began five years later (and continues through today). As stated earlier, these are hard to find, but can be had for a price. We’re glad we collected them from the beginning at the original prices. 

The front and rear flaps. 

There is a fairly good-sized selection of photos. 

The back cover, featuring a photo of author Larry D. Names.

Find your copy here.

The History of the Green Bay Packers — The Lambeau Years, Part One

By Larry D. Names

Angel Press of Wisconsin (1987)

215 pages

Vince: A Personal Biography (1987)

From the original book description: “Published to widespread critical acclaim, Vince: A Personal Biography of Vince Lombardi has been called: "the definitive biography" of an American legend (Editor’s note: at least until When Pride Still Mattered). With stunning revelations and anecdotes, Vince Lombardi's life is pieced together with painstaking care in research, detail, and historical accuracy. Based on more than two hundred interviews, including those who played with him and against him, from his early coaching days at St. Cecilia High School in New Jersey to West Point, the New York Giants, and his championship seasons with the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins. Drawing upon unpublished Lombardi family papers, Vince clarifies the thirty years of mystery and contradiction that have swirled around the legend of Vince Lombardi.”

“Vince goes beyond the sidelines to reveal the true character of Lombardi. He was dedicated and narrow, intelligent and dogmatic, self-restrained yet emotional, abusive yet apologetic. His moods could swing from deep gloom to soaring exuberance in seconds. He was compassionate, kind, charitable. He could also be gripped by uncontrollable anger. Above all, Vince paints a portrait of a very human man who committed his life to winning.”

This was the first Lombardi biography that we added to our collection back in the year of its release, purchased at the old Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Vince: A Personal Biography of Vince Lombardi

By Michael O’Brien

William Morrow Paperbacks (1987)

456 pages

Distant Replay (1985)

Jerry Kramer’s third book, Distant Replay, followed his earlier books Instant Replay and Farewell to Football. Published in 1985, this volume is about the nostalgic reunion of the first Super Bowl champions, the Green Bay Packers of the mid-1960s. It elicits reminiscences of their victorious triumphs and their tragic losses, especially of their late coach, Vince Lombardi.

Chapters are devoted to the stories of Fuzzy Thurston and Tommy Joe Crutcher; Bart Starr (who had been fired as the Packers’ head coach after the 1983 season) and Forrest Gregg (who had succeeded Starr and coached the team at the time of the reunion); Max McGee and Paul Hornung; Willie Davis, Ron Kostelnik, Henry Jordan and Lionel Aldridge; Jimmy Taylor and Elijah Pitts; Bob Skoronski, Ken Bowman, Bill Curry and Gale Gillingham; Ray Nitschke, Dave Robinson, and Lee Roy Caffey; Willie Wood, Herb Adderley, Bob Jeter, and Tom Brown; Red Mack, Carroll Dale, Boyd Dowler, Marv Fleming, Bob Long, and Bill Anderson; Zeke Bratkowski, Don Chandler, Doug Hart, and Steve Wright; Donny Anderson, Bob Brown, Jim Grabowski, Dave Hathcock, Phil Vandersea, and Jim Weatherwax. 

Preface page. 

Introduction page. 

The letter sent out to all the alumni of the 1966-67 Green Bay Packers World Championship team. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Distant Replay

By Jerry Kramer with Dick Schaap

Jove Books (1985)

249 pages

The Packer Legend (1982)

Covering the birth, rise, and fall of the pro football team from little Green Bay, The Packer Legend: An Inside Look is written by John B. Torinus, Sr., “a retired newspaper executive who once worked as a ball boy for the Green Bay Packers and went on to join the football team's board of directors. A member of the Packers board of directors since 1949, Torinus also served on the National Football League club's seven-member executive committee. In 1962, he left his position as executive editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette to become editor and general manager of the Appleton Post-Crescent until his retirement in 1983. As a youth, Torinus worked as a ball boy for the team and later covered it for decades as a newspaperman. In the mid-1950s, when the Packers were in financial trouble, Torinus sold stock for the team to raise money.” These facts serve to prove that this story of the Packers was written by someone who was there. Torinus died in October 1985.

Source of quoted material: AP obituary, 1985 

This book is one of the first covering the Packers long and storied history that we purchased, and contains many great photos — some of which you’ve seen numerous times, and some that will be new to you. We love the headline on this newspaper front page from 1929! 

Packer game action from 1928.

Newspaper front page from 1959, announcing the hiring of head coach Vince Lombardi. 

A view of the north end of the stadium that you don’t see too often. This shows the Packers’ administration building in an unspecified year of the 1970’s. Note Lambeau Field without any skyboxes behind the offices. Things look a little different today, eh?

Some of the Packers’ longtime staff are recognized in the book. Here, trainer Dominic Gentile shows off the tools of his trade. 

The hiring of former QB Bart Starr as head coach headlines the news at Christmas time in 1975.

Coach Starr meets with some of his offensive players in a Lambeau Field classroom. The book ends with optimism expressed about the coming 1982 season, but Starr would be relieved of his coaching duties at the end of 1983 to be replaced by another Lombardi pupil, Forrest Gregg. And the long slide continued. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

The Packer Legend: An Inside Look

By John B. Torinus

Laranmark Press (1982)

253 pages

Birthplace Of A Commonwealth (1976)

This history of Wisconsin’s Brown County (and the towns that make up the county) was published in the year of America’s Bicentennial. From the earliest visit by John Nicolet in 1634 through the year of publication, Birthplace Of A Commonwealth tells the tale of the Green Bay area and the people who made it what it is today. While only a small portion of the book deals specifically with the Packers, we found it worthwhile to add to our football library. As with anything, understanding the past helps us to understand the present and future. 

Above and below, the two pages which reference the Green Bay Packers. 

We do love seeing the old photos of the city. There are many photos much older than this in the book.

Find your copy here.

Birthplace Of A Commonwealth

By Jack Rudolph

Brown County Historical Society (1976)

96 pages