"He knows about the game, he knows
about the styles," Ryan said of Patterson.
"I'd say he's a pretty well-educated fan.
I don't mean educated from the
standpoint of how good of a writer he is.
He's educated about the game."
DAVID STLUKA
• • • •
James Patterson recalled a book signing at the
Orpheum Theater on State Street. What made this
one different from the thousands of others that he
has sat through over the years?
"When I have a book signing I'm sort of the center
of attention," he said. "Until all of a sudden somebody came in and the whole audience was like, 'Oh,
my God, oh my God, look who's here?'
"They were all turning away from me to whoever
the hell this guy is. It turns out it was Barry and his
wife, Cindy. So suddenly there was a bigger star at
the book signing.
"He reads a lot of my books, so that was kind of
cool."
It's true. UW athletic director Barry Alvarez is a
big fan of James Patterson, a prolific storyteller.
"Heck, I don't know how many years ago it was,"
Alvarez said, "but Cindy read in the paper that he
was going to be here signing books so I took him a
cap and visited with him afterwards.
"Since then, the Pattersons have hosted one
of our alumni functions at their home in Florida.
They're very good friends with the athletic department, the School of Education and the university.
"I have read a lot of his books and it's really cool
knowing the author."
Wisconsin basketball coach Bo Ryan acknowledged the same thing after recently playing golf
with James and Susan Patterson at Nakoma Country Club in Madison.
"Boy, what a great couple," Ryan gushed. "They're
really grounded. We talked about everything under
the sun; his experiences, my experiences, one thing
led to another."
College basketball was their common ground.
Patterson is a huge fan.
"He knows about the game, he knows about the
styles," Ryan said. "I'd say he's a pretty well-educated fan. I don't mean educated from the standpoint
of how good of a writer he is.
"He's educated about the game."
Patterson asked about some of the UW players.
"But I didn't ask a lot about his writing," Ryan
said, chuckling.
A voracious reader, Ryan couldn't resist offering
a book review, though.
"The thing I did tell him," said Ryan, "is that every
time I've read one of his books, his description of
A contribution to a charity already close
to his heart, Coaches vs. Cancer, helped
earn "Bo" a spot in Patterson's next book
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