Children’s book shows great athletes
Former local TV sports anchor writes historical fiction sports story for kids
Former Eureka TV sports anchor Andrew Luria has written a children’s book titled “The Adventures of Charlie Marley.”
Luria now anchors Fox 5 News in San Diego after covering sports and news in Santa Maria and Tampa, Florida, after departing Humboldt County. He’s also a first- time author with the publication this month of his new historical fiction sports story, which uses time travel to explore some of the great moments in sports history.
The idea for the book began while Luria was employed at News Channel 3 from 2002 to 2004.
“I made it a life goal when I was working there in Eureka to write a book,” Luria said in an email interview with the TimesStandard. “I wasn’t even sure what it would be about, but I wanted to see if I could do it. I think of writing as something of a math problem, so I had to make all the ideas work together to make sense.
“As I started brainstorming,” he said, “I knew sports would be an important element since that’s something I love and know a lot about. Then, the idea of traveling back in time to meet some of the all-time greats would be a neat element for kids to experience.”
The main character of the book is 12- year- old Charlie Marley (named after one of Luria’s family dogs), whose clumsiness winds up factoring into each of the great sports moments featured in the book — “like when he trips down the centerfield stands at the 1932 World Series and Babe Ruth points to him, asking if the ump saw what just happened, making us wonder if perhaps ‘ The Called Shot’ wasn’t a home run prediction after all,” said Luria, who has three children with his wife, Elyssa, who received a master’s degree in school psychology from Humboldt State University.
“The Adventures of Charlie Marley” — aimed at 8- to 14-year- olds — not only has the story about Babe Ruth, but also features Mary Lou Retton, John Elway, Jackie Robinson, Babe Zaharias and Michael Jordan.
“There are so many great moments to choose from, and initially I cut that list down to 16 moments/athletes,” Luria said. “I wrote the story, and realized it was quite long, so for this book, I cut it down to six. That allows me to now take the other 10 to use in future books.”
“The Adventures of Charlie Marley” ( Beachside Publishing Co.) is available via Amazon and through the book website, charliemarley.com.
“I hope kids like it,” Luria said, “and also laugh and learn something along the way.”
The Adventures of Charlie Marley” — aimed at 8- to 14-yearolds — not only has the story about Babe Ruth, but also features Mary Lou Retton, John Elway, Jackie Robinson, Babe Zaharias and Michael Jordan.