Book signing before the Foresters game: “Perfect Eloquence An Appreciation of Vin Scully”

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Fans of Vin Scully had the opportunity to purchase a book of essays about him at the Santa Barbara Foresters’ victorious game at Santa Barbara High School on Saturday.

The book, titled “Perfect Eloquence An Appreciation of Vin Scully,” is a collection of 67 essays about the late, great voice of the Dodgers.

Journalists involved in the book’s launch signed copies and spoke to fans before the game.

Tom Hoffarth edited the essays in the book and seemed honored by the work.

“It was a real pleasure to get to know Vin Scully and understand him. He was more than just a radio host. He was a compassionate person, a humanitarian and a great patriot,” Hoffarth said.

Ron Rapoport wrote the foreword, in which he describes how Scully turned down repeated requests to write a book.

“This book brings Vinny back into the room for you. It has so many great essays. You can read it anywhere, put it down and pick it up anywhere,” Rapoport said, “and it will be like Vin Scully is back.”

Paul Vercammen wrote an essay about inspiration and influence in one chapter.

“I grew up in an all-immigrant family here in Santa Barbara and I noticed in first grade that my vocabulary had big gaps because you learn English from your parents. If I asked for a washcloth in Flemish or Dutch, everyone would laugh. I had some difficulties,” Vercammen said. “Around the same time, my brother bought me this big, clunky radio and I listened to Vin Scully in the evenings. I quickly realized that Vin Scully taught me better English. So instead of saying ‘oh, that was good,’ you could say ‘wonderful,’ and use his descriptive technique to make what you were talking about even better.”

The former CNN correspondent and KEYT news director did just that.

“I wanted to be Vin Scully and in my career I have used a lot of what I learned from Vin Scully himself and tried to apply it to describing sometimes quite tricky situations, like a riot, a flood or a bush fire. He was very good at stepping back and painting pictures.”

Finally, Vercammen questioned Scully.

“Vin Scully ended up unknowingly becoming my mentor and I got to interview him later in life and I’ve done all kinds of silly things in honor of Vin Scully. Perhaps one of the funniest things is I rode a one-speed bicycle to City Hall in Los Angeles to celebrate the Dodgers’ World Championship and there Vin Scully was as the emcee.”

“Perfect Eloquence” is available at Telocote Books in Montecito and wherever books are sold.