Manuscript and galley proofs for The Coach's Art

Collection

Identifier: Coll 373

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of the manuscript and galley proofs for "The Coach's Art," a book co-authored by Portland Trail Blazers coach Jack Ramsay and John Strawn. The manuscript includes handwritten edits and notes about spacing and type size; the galley proofs are similarly marked. The collection also includes reproductions of training correspondence and documents from July 1977, which were shown on pages 61 through 65 of the published book. These consist of a letter from Ramsay to player Maurice Lucas; a memo to the team about the summer training program; a memo to the team about stretches; and an outline that describes the planned practice regimen for the 1977 preseason and the 1977-1978 midseason.

Dates

Creation: circa 1977-1978

Creator

Ramsay, Jack, 1925-2014 (Author, Person)
Strawn, John (Author, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Jack Ramsay was born in 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Milford, Connecticut, and in Philadelphia. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. After the war, he studied at St. Joseph's College (later St. Joseph's University) in Philadelphia, where he played both basketball and baseball. After playing minor league professional baseball for six seasons, he worked as head basketball coach at St. Joseph's from 1955 to 1966. He then became the general manager and later coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, a National Basketball Association (NBA) team. He subsequently coached the Buffalo Braves (later the Los Angeles Clippers) before becoming the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers in Portland, Oregon, in 1976. The Trail Blazers won the NBA championship in 1977, and subsequently made it to the playoffs in every season that Ramsay was coach. Ramsay was fired from the Blazers in 1986 after the team was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. He then coached the Indiana Pacers' coach until 1988. After the end of his coaching career, Ramsay gave basketball clinics on behalf of the NBA and worked as a basketball broadcast commentator. He retired from broadcasting in 2013, and died in 2014.

Sources: Obituary in the New York Times, April 28, 2014; "Jack Ramsay (1925-2014)," by Kerry Eggers, Oregon Encyclopedia, https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/ramsay_jack/

Extent

0.15 Cubic Feet (3 folders in shared box; 1 oversize folder (16x20) in shared flat box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Manuscript and galley proofs for a book by Jack Ramsay (1925-2014) and John Strawn, "The Coach's Art," along with reproductions of correspondence and a training outline that were included in the book. Ramsay coached the Portland Trail Blazers basketball team in Portland, Oregon, from 1976 to 1986, and later worked as a basketball broadcast commentator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of John Strawn, April 2013 (Lib. Acc. 27915).

Processing Information

Initially processed in May 2013; reprocessed in August 2023. Reprocessing included the rehousing of oversized galley proofs and a revision of description to more thoroughly describe the collection's contents. Collection was titled "The coach's art / by Jack Ramsay, with John Strawn" prior to 2023.