I was born in Harbin, Manchuria, (later China), in 1938. At the outbreak of the Second World War my mother, sister and I, along with other non-combatants of the Allied countries, were taken by the Japanese to an internment camp in Tokyo where we would remain four year--to the end of the war. My mother's recollection is that I was a sickly child. By the time I arrived in Japan, according to her, I had survived diphtheria, whooping cough, yellow fever, smallpox and tuberculosis. Such afflictions, to my mother's astonishment, did not keep me from growing to my adult height of 6'6" and muscular weight of 220 pounds. Nor did they keep me from being strong enough and skillful enough to become a professional basketball player and play 10 years for the National Basketball Association, as the first ethnic Russian and immigrant to do so, and the first to be named to an All-Star team.
I was born in Harbin, Manchuria, (later China), in 1938. At the outbreak of the Second World War my mother, sister and I, along with other non-combatants of the Allied countries, were taken by the Japanese to an internment camp in Tokyo where we would remain four year--to the end of the war. My mother's recollection is that I was a sickly child. By the time I arrived in Japan, according to her, I had survived diphtheria, whooping cough, yellow fever, smallpox and tuberculosis. Such afflictions, to my mother's astonishment, did not keep me from growing to my adult height of 6'6" and muscular weight of 220 pounds. Nor did they keep me from being strong enough and skillful enough to become a professional basketball player and play 10 years for the National Basketball Association, as the first ethnic Russian and immigrant to do so, and the first to be named to an All-Star team.
Über den Autor
TOM MESCHERY is the author of five books of poetry, Over the Rim, Nothing We lose Can be Replaced, Some Men, and Sweat: New and Selected Poems about Sports, and Clear Path. Meschery was born in Harbin, Manchuria in 1938, and immigrated to the United States after the Second World War. In San Francisco, where he attended high school and college. Meschery played NBA basketball for the Golden State Warriors and the Seattle Supersonics from 1961 to 1971. After his playing days, he earned his MFA from the University of Iowa. He taught literature and creative writing for 25 years in Reno, Nevada. He was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame. In retirement, he continues to write poetry and fiction. His debut novel, A Brovelli Brothers' Mystery: The Case of the '61 Chevy Impala was published in October of 2022 to an enthusiastic review from Publishers' Weekly. The second in the Brovelli Brothers' series: The Case of the '66 Ford Mustang was published in October of 2023. The third Brovelli Brothers Mystery, is The Case of the 1950 Volkswagen Hippy Bus. Meschery lives in Sacramento, CA with his wife, artist and art historian, Melanie Marchant.
