June 2, 2007 Mark Harris, Author of ?Bang the Drum Slowly,? Is Dead at 84 By FRANK LITSKY Mark Harris, who took readers on a literary journey through the life of a mythical baseball player in four well-received novels, including ?Bang the Drum Slowly,? which became the basis of a 1973 movie, died Wednesday. He was 84 and lived in Goleta, Calif. His death, at a hospital in Santa Barbara, was caused by complications of Alzheimer?s disease, his son Henry said. ?Bang the Drum Slowly? (1956) was the second of Mr. Harris?s tetralogy of baseball novels, following ?The Southpaw? (1953). The others were ?A Ticket for a Seamstitch? (1957) and ?It Looked Like For Ever? (1979). The books follow the adventures of Henry Wiggen, a gifted pitcher for the fictional New York Mammoths. Wiggen himself narrates the tales in a colloquial voice laced with dry, country humor. All the books grapple with moral and social issues. More... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/02/sports/baseball/02harris.html?_r=1&ref=obituarie&oref=slogin
