NASHVILLE, TN

Long before Jay Grider helped execute major events in Music City, he was a recent college graduate working security shifts, checking the mailbox for replies, and wondering whether a career in sports would ever begin. His new memoir, Last Call: From the Minor Leagues to Nashville’s Rise as a Major Sports Destination, turns that uncertain start into a practical story for people pursuing careers behind the scoreboard.

Grider describes sending approximately seventy-five résumés to professional teams and receiving rejection after rejection. A telephone call to the Huntsville Stars finally produced an interview, followed by a job offer in 1988 at $1,000 per month. He arrived expecting professional baseball and quickly learned that front-office work could mean picking up stadium trash in a suit, dragging tarps through storms, making cold calls, selling advertisements, and solving problems outside any formal job description.

Last Call follows the lessons that carried Grider from minor league baseball into a central role in Nashville’s sports-event community. He explains why reliability matters more than glamour, why relationships must be maintained long before an event is awarded, and why successful operations depend on people who remain calm when schedules, weather, technology, or crowds disrupt the plan.

The memoir also examines mentorship. Grider credits leaders and colleagues who gave him opportunities, corrected his mistakes, trusted him with larger responsibilities, and demonstrated how to serve partners honestly. In turn, he offers guidance to interns, students, and early-career professionals entering sports management today: learn every part of the operation, respect volunteers, keep your commitments, write down the stories, and never assume a small assignment is unimportant.

Alongside those lessons are entertaining accounts of baseball offices, bowl preparations, sold-out venues, unexpected emergencies, sponsor negotiations, late-night problem-solving, and the personalities that made a demanding career memorable.

For universities offering sports administration, management, hospitality, communications, or event-planning programs, Last Call provides a firsthand companion to classroom study. It shows how careers are built through persistence, adaptability, teamwork, judgment, and the willingness to handle whatever needs to be done.

His story demonstrates that the most visible moments in sports are supported by years of quiet work, trust, preparation, and shared responsibility.

Last Call is now available on Amazon.

About the Author

Jay Grider is a longtime sports executive whose nearly thirty-eight-year career includes minor league baseball, event operations, the Nashville Sports Council, the Music City Bowl, and major sporting events across Nashville.

Author Name: Jay Grider Book Title: Last Call Published By: Visionary Book Publishers

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An inspiring picture book about perfection, self-acceptance, and the value of being unique

Forest Hills, NY

 Lynn Nezin announces the release of The Potter and The Fly, now available on Amazon in eBook, paperback, and hardcover formats. Written for children ages 3 to 12 and the parents, loved ones, and teachers who read with them, the illustrated parable follows a village potter whose contented life is shaken by a single unkind remark. It is the story of one man’s quest for perfection and his realization that each of us is unique and of individual value.

Chi lives in a small village high in the mountains. For as long as he can remember, he has made pots that are both beautiful and useful. Every family in the village relies on them to carry water, store food, and hold flowers. Then one day a fly buzzes into his workshop and tells Chi that he has never made a perfect pot, and that a life without perfection is a failure.

The words stay with him. Chi spends his savings on a new wheel, collects every pot he has ever made from the villagers, and dumps them into the river along with his faithful old wheel. He then sets out to find the perfect clay. Along the way, he meets a little goat standing apart from his herd, ashamed of his two very different horns. Chi tells him that his horns are beautiful and that none of us is perfect, yet each of us is wonderful in our own way. He does not yet see that the lesson is also meant for him.

His long journey brings him back to the place where it began. There, Chi finally finds the clay he has been searching for and works almost without rest until a flawless pot emerges from his hands. In a vivid dream, his old wheel and pots speak to him and offer their forgiveness. When the fly returns, the perfect pot leads to an unexpected transformation that changes how Chi sees himself and his life’s work.

Nezin shapes the story as a parable about the impossibility of attaining perfection and the beauty of accepting individuality. Its themes of self-realization, personal growth, and respect for ourselves and others are presented in a gentle way that young readers can follow. The book offers a read-aloud for families and classrooms and a conversation starter about mistakes, differences, and the pressure to be flawless.

The Potter and The Fly is now available on Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. Brought to life through the illustrations of Andres Fernandez, the book invites readers of every age to see the value in what makes each of us different.

About the Author

Lynn Nezin holds a doctorate in clinical health psychology. She is a published author in nutritional lifestyle and a former health care strategist and personal trainer. She has also taught baby ballet and university classes in motivation. With The Potter and The Fly, she brings her interest in motivation and personal growth to a story for young readers and their families.

Author Name: Lynn Nezin Book Title: The Potter and The Fly Published By: City Light Publishers

Book Published Links: Rakuten Kobo; Amazon; Barnes & Noble

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A holiday story of dance, unexpected magic, and the joy of giving

Maple Grove, MN

Lori Ann Kozicky Goldstein announces the release of Where’s Santa? The Sleigh Belle Dancers’ Mission and the Magic Shoe, now available on Amazon in eBook, paperback, and hardcover formats. Written for children and families, the illustrated holiday story follows the Sleigh Belle Dancers through a Christmas performance that takes an unexpected turn when their special guest fails to appear.

Lulu Chasse has made sure every detail is ready for Santa’s grand arrival. As the dancers line up and the audience waits, however, Santa is nowhere to be found. The team refuses to let disappointment end the celebration. They keep dancing, hoping he might still appear before their final number. Then Lulu’s shoe flies off her foot and into the crowd, bringing the performance to a funny pause.

A swirl of Christmas magic soon changes the mood. What follows brings Santa, the dancers, their audience, and a group of dogs in training into one joyful gathering. The story moves from uncertainty to laughter and warmth, showing how an unexpected mishap can become part of a memorable celebration. Young readers meet a team that stays together when plans go awry and finds a way to keep giving its best.

The festive setting is more than a backdrop for Santa’s surprise. In the story, money raised by Santa and the Sleigh Belles helps dogs receive the care and training they need to assist people. The dogs themselves join the celebration, greeting Santa with wagging tails and plenty of affection. Their presence gives the story a simple way to connect Christmas excitement with generosity and care for others.

Through a flying shoe, a mysterious arrival, and a room full of music, Goldstein invites families to enjoy a seasonal tale about teamwork, kindness, and the joy of sharing. The book offers a holiday read-aloud and a conversation starter about helping others, including the animals that learn to support people in need. It also invites children to imagine how they might respond when an eagerly awaited guest arrives late.

Where’s Santa? The Sleigh Belle Dancers’ Mission and the Magic Shoe is now available on Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and hardcover. Best of all, the proceeds support the Helping Paws organization in Minnesota.

This book includes a special memorial for State Representative and House Speaker, Minority Leader Melissa Hortman; her husband, Mark; and their dog, Gilbert. May they always be remembered! 

About the Author

Lori Ann Kozicky Goldstein is the Director of the Sleigh Belle Dancers. Inspired by the team’s friendship and the magic of Christmas, she brings their holiday spirit to the page in a story for young readers and their families.
Author Name: Lori Ann Kozicky Goldstein Book Title: Where’s Santa?  Published By: City Light Publishers

Book Published Links: Barnes & Noble; Amazon; Bookshop.org 

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