Robert Allen Cherry
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| Born | 1943 (age 80–81) Philadelphia |
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Robert Allen Cherry (born in Philadelphia in 1943) is a teacher, journalist, businessman and author. His first book, Wilt: Larger Than Life[1], is a biography of the American sports legend Wilt Chamberlain, who played professional basketball and ranks among the game’s greatest players.[2]
He since has published 2 other titles, one a Family Memoir [3]and the other about his travels in Liberia in the 1960s. [4]
Life
Cherry has spent most of his life in Philadelphia or its suburbs, save for stints reporting in Phoenix, editing in New York and teaching in Liberia. He attended Philadelphia public schools, graduating in 1961 from Overbrook High School where he started on the Overbrook varsity basketball team.[5]
Cherry splits his time between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Pompano Beach, Florida. He has one daughter.
Authorship
Wilt: Larger Than Life (2004): After Chamberlain died at age 63 in October 1999, Cherry spent almost five years researching and writing this biography. He crisscrossed the country interviewing over 150 personal and professional associates who knew Chamberlain well, among them his doctor, lawyer, accountant, and college roommate; high school, college and professional teammates and opponents; his high school and three of his professional coaches; life-long friends and Chamberlain’s sister Barbara Chamberlain Lewis, who was his closest confidant.[1]
In 2019 the Library of Congress invited Cherry to write an essay about Chamberlain’s 100-point game, considered one of the greatest individual accomplishments in sports. The game was not televised and only the fourth quarter was recorded from the radio broadcast of the event and that audiotape, now accompanied by Cherry’s essay, is in the Library of Congress Registry.[6]
Living Liberia: Laughter, Love & Folly: (2017) is a memoir/travel book of Cherry’s life as a Peace Corps volunteer in a village in the Liberian rainforest where he spent 1966-67—and later, age 38, he returned for a two-month visit in 1982.[4]
Cherry Delight: A Family Memoir: (2013) Primarily about Cherry’s parents, Joseph and Mary Cherry, the story begins in the Russian Empire and unfolds in Philadelphia, spanning the late nineteenth century to the first decade of the twenty-first.[3]
Journalism
Cherry has worked for three newspapers, including the Main Line Times, 1969-70; The Arizona Republic, 1971-73; and the Drummer, 1977-79. In 1975 Cherry was an Associate Editor at Food Management, then published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich in New York city.
From 1980-81 he was also the editor and publisher of Philly Week, named by Frommer’s 1981-82 Guide to Philadelphia & Atlantic City one of the two best sources for entertainment information in the city.
He was recently interviewed for the Showtime Documentary "Goliath" about Wilt Chamberlain's Life and Career.[7]
Business life
Cherry was President of Great American Foods Inc, from 1985-90. [8] GAF was a Philadelphia company started by his father in 1949. It manufactured salad dressings and mayonnaise and sold the product to wholesale food distributors in the northeastern United States. Cherry sold the company in 1990 to Holsum Foods of Waukesha, Wisconsin but continued to run the Philadelphia operation until he retired in December 1995.
Teaching
Cherry taught school in a Liberian village from 1966-68, where most of his students were the first person from their families to attend school. He also taught 5th and 6th grade (1969-70) in a Philadelphia elementary school, T.M. Peirce; and journalism at Temple University (1978), literary journalism at Cabrini College (2006), and public speaking and business writing at Drexel University (2006-2010).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Cherry, Robert Allen (2004). Wilt: Larger Than Life (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: Triumph Books. ISBN 1572439157.
- ↑ "Wilt Chamberlain Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cherry, Robert (2013). Cherry Delight: A Family Memoir (1st ed.). Amazon: Amazon. ISBN 9780991386444.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Cherry, Robert (2017). Living Liberia: Laughter, Love & Folly (1st ed.). Amazon: Amazon. ISBN 9780991386451.
- ↑ Overbrook High School Yearbook. 1961.
- ↑ https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/WiltChamberlin100PointGame.pdf
- ↑ "Goliath (Official Series Site) Watch on Showtime". SHO.com. Retrieved 2023-08-12.
- ↑ https://file.dos.pa.gov/search/business (Search Great American Foods, Inc)
External links
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