October 2005
Sports and Religion Series
144 pages, 5 x 8
978-0-86554-740-7
$20.00t, Cloth
Illustrations, bibliographic essay
MUP/H666
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Safe at Home
A Memoir of God, Baseball, and Family
Marc A. Jolley
All moments are key moments.
—Frederick Buechner
When the author’s father died, Jolley decided that he needed to write something for his sons about what was important in his life. The result, while not a full autobiography, deals with three things in his life that have shaped it more than others; it is about what he loves: baseball, God, and family, but not necessarily in that order all of the time. This memoir, then, is about what the author “knows” and to that extent, each sentence is true in the best tradition of Hemingway. Safe at Home is both a phrase used in baseball and an expression that captures the importance of family.
This story is about how faith, family, and baseball have intersected in his life, an intersection that occurs at home. Critical moments of Jolley’s life have seen God, baseball, and family impact at very important times in his life. Whether losing game after game in little league, watching the World Series with his father, or quitting the high school team, the presence of family and his faith shape how he overcomes disappointment or celebrates the sheer joy of playing. Collecting baseball cards in 1968 provides him with a lesson in race and his mother’s faith that opens his eyes to a world he never knew. From the moment Reggie Jackson’s five homeruns are overshadowed by a secret Jolley’s father shares with him to why for one very important moment he called himself “Mr. October,” Jolley teaches us through his own discovery.
Written in the candor of sharing, this memoir reminds us that those parts of our life that we hold dear are never truly disconnected from one another and that the lessons learned through them should not be allowed to pass unspoken. All the stories in this warmly written work will, whether sad or uplifting, always wave us home.
Marc A. Jolley is director of Mercer University Press.
He lives in Macon, Georgia, with his wife Susan and their two sons, Patrick and David.
Titles of Related Interest
The Great God Baseball: Religion in Modern Baseball Fiction
From Season to Season: Sports as American Religion
An Unholy Alliance: The Sacred and Modern Sports
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