A COACH'S LIFE

Dean Smith, the hugely successful coach (retired) of the University of North Carolina basketball team, is a thoroughly decent man who values education above basketball, while winning more basketball games than any living coach. Since the author tells us early on that he speaks with "a flat Kansas twang," the narrator is by necessity constrained in his read-ing. Within that constraint, Conger's narration is always interesting and appropriate. Listeners will learn not only about basketball but also much about the progress of civil rights and race relations at a Southern university, and about the effect one caring teacher can have on the lives of the young people he influences. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 00]