It usually falls to the writer to secure the permissions for artwork and photographs in a book. Invariably, one or two images can prove elusive. When I was writing CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, I had heard about a photo of Fidel Castro running to first base with his baseball team that toured the island after the revolution. (We didn't find that in time for CURVEBALL, but it does appear on page 48 of FAR FROM HOME, which I did for National Geographic.
With HIGH HEAT, it was chasing down a photograph from Look magazine of Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro. Of course, there are plenty of photos of Tony C. out there, but I wanted this one. And I eventually found it in the Library of Congress.
During interviews for CANCER CROSSINGS: A Brother, His Doctors and the Quest to Cure Childhood Leukemia, my sister Susan told me about a painting she saw in the Freer Gallery in D.C. How it reminded her of the tumultuous times when our brother Eric had leukemia. Well, the Freer is closed right now, but the permissions department is still open and with a major assist from the amazing Meaghan Dermody at Cornell Press, it will appear in the new book. You see it here.