The call came at some point in 2006.
“Gordie,” the voice on the line said. “Pat Williams.”
Of course. I was working on a book with the former Sixers general manager, which hardly made me unique. At the time of his death Wednesday at age 84, he had co-authored over 100 of them.
This one was about the Sixers’ 1982-83 championship team, and he was calling to touch base.
Only the conversation became something else. It became a pep talk, with him telling me that the best day in an author’s life is when the box of books arrives in his driveway, and he breaks it open and sees the stack within.