The Book
A town literally built upon the once booming coal economy, the rise to prominence and eventual decline of West Frankfort, Illinois, tightly parallels that of the coal industry itself. Depicting a town unknowingly on the threshold of the likely end of an era of growth and economic prosperity, Season of Change: Baseball, Coal Mining, and a Small Town’s Struggle to Beat the Odds is an engaging and bittersweet account of the rise and fall of the town of West Frankfort and the West Frankfort Cardinals. An intimate and personal depiction of the 1948 Illinois State League champions and the town they called home also takes a swing at the larger social and economic issues that continue to largely shut out efforts to return to the prosperity and potential of the past.
Season of Change: Baseball, Coal Mining, and a Small Town’s Struggle to Beat the Odds is the culmination of over four years of extensive research and in-depth interviews with the people who helped establish the team and their descendants, as well as current local townspeople and area historians. Comparing the formation of the team to the modern-day Southern Illinois Miners and linking the tale with the tumultuous coal industry, Brooks breaks new literary ground with a poignant and moving piece describing both the good and the bad of southern Illinois and West Frankfort history.
Acclaim for Season of Change:
~Taylor Pensoneau, Illinois author and former president of the Illinois Coal Association
Season of Change: Baseball, Coal Mining, and a Small Town’s Struggle to Beat the Odds makes an excellent gift for the baseball fan, southern Illinois history buff, and area resident alike. A portion of the proceeds from each book will be donated to the Frankfort Community High School Athletics Department.
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