Jim Leeke
@jimleeke.bsky.social
Writer, researcher, SABR member — sports, aviation and military history. Current book: Big Loosh (University of Nebraska Press). Previously: The Gas and Flame Men; The Turtle and the Dreamboat (Potomac Books).
Requested an interlibrary loan of George Plimpton’s Paper Lion. Found a surprise inside.
December 1, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Requested an interlibrary loan of George Plimpton’s Paper Lion. Found a surprise inside.
A stage actor during his youth, international speed flier Frank Hawks appeared in movies during the 1930s plus starred in a Hollywood serial, The Mysterious Pilot. Here's a newspaper ad from March 1938. — #avgeeks
November 30, 2025 at 4:07 PM
A stage actor during his youth, international speed flier Frank Hawks appeared in movies during the 1930s plus starred in a Hollywood serial, The Mysterious Pilot. Here's a newspaper ad from March 1938. — #avgeeks
The best news photo I ever took ... and I was still in J-School at Ohio State. Go Bucks! (OSU Lantern, November 24, 1975)
November 29, 2025 at 3:56 PM
The best news photo I ever took ... and I was still in J-School at Ohio State. Go Bucks! (OSU Lantern, November 24, 1975)
My first full-length work on #WW1 #baseball (still available from @mcfarland.bsky.social). Book #6 on the topic is coming in February. Who’d have thought?
November 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
My first full-length work on #WW1 #baseball (still available from @mcfarland.bsky.social). Book #6 on the topic is coming in February. Who’d have thought?
I’ve been around awhile, and I’ve seen some things.
November 28, 2025 at 2:30 PM
I’ve been around awhile, and I’ve seen some things.
I spent so much time writing his biography that I think and speak of him now simply as “Ronnie.” (And I did meet him once, long ago.)
November 26, 2025 at 10:14 PM
I spent so much time writing his biography that I think and speak of him now simply as “Ronnie.” (And I did meet him once, long ago.)
Everyone be safe while traveling for Thanksgiving! (Artist: O’Dell Dean, 1917)
November 26, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Everyone be safe while traveling for Thanksgiving! (Artist: O’Dell Dean, 1917)
Clearly, nobody at Yahoo has ever seen Columbus.
November 24, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Clearly, nobody at Yahoo has ever seen Columbus.
Douglas O-38F observation biplane, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton OH, 2024. I’ll need another propeller fix soon while writing the biography of 1930s speed flier Frank Hawks. — #avgeeks
November 23, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Douglas O-38F observation biplane, National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton OH, 2024. I’ll need another propeller fix soon while writing the biography of 1930s speed flier Frank Hawks. — #avgeeks
My 2008 book on JFK’s funeral, now out of print.
November 22, 2025 at 2:37 PM
My 2008 book on JFK’s funeral, now out of print.
A favorite discovery, tiny sketch of a female baseball player. An illustration for a newspaper article, 1913. Artist unknown. Maybe the new @wpbl.bsky.social can use it!
November 21, 2025 at 2:59 PM
A favorite discovery, tiny sketch of a female baseball player. An illustration for a newspaper article, 1913. Artist unknown. Maybe the new @wpbl.bsky.social can use it!
Frank Hawks (right) flew Will Rogers on a Red Cross drought-relieve tour across three states in 1931. “There’s more than a million people in the country with more money than ever before," Rogers said, "but there’s 10 million people who are poorer than ever. It’s up to us to do something about it.”
November 20, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Frank Hawks (right) flew Will Rogers on a Red Cross drought-relieve tour across three states in 1931. “There’s more than a million people in the country with more money than ever before," Rogers said, "but there’s 10 million people who are poorer than ever. It’s up to us to do something about it.”
An old favorite — Elmer Andrews Bushnell, “A Birdseye View of Uncle Si Tiller’s First View of the Aerial Mail Plane.” (Topeka State Journal, May 10, 1919, via Library of Congress) — #avgeeks
November 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
An old favorite — Elmer Andrews Bushnell, “A Birdseye View of Uncle Si Tiller’s First View of the Aerial Mail Plane.” (Topeka State Journal, May 10, 1919, via Library of Congress) — #avgeeks
MLB umpire Ron Luciano was an All-America football player at Syracuse before he entered baseball. He played briefly for the Indianapolis Warriors of the minor United Football League after injuries ended his dreams of an NFL career. Learn more about Ronnie in bio Big Loosh, @univnebpress.bsky.social
November 18, 2025 at 3:12 PM
MLB umpire Ron Luciano was an All-America football player at Syracuse before he entered baseball. He played briefly for the Indianapolis Warriors of the minor United Football League after injuries ended his dreams of an NFL career. Learn more about Ronnie in bio Big Loosh, @univnebpress.bsky.social
Here's Mutt later, as an American doughboy in 1918, explaining baseball to a Britisher — a panel from my favorite WWI sports cartoon.
November 17, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Here's Mutt later, as an American doughboy in 1918, explaining baseball to a Britisher — a panel from my favorite WWI sports cartoon.
Bud Fisher, the creator of Mutt and Jeff, took a vacation as WWl began in Europe. He drew himself into a cartoon and added a joke about the English Channel. An American, the cartoonist later was a captain in the British Army. (Harrisburg Telegraph, August 10, 1914, via Library of Congress)
November 17, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Bud Fisher, the creator of Mutt and Jeff, took a vacation as WWl began in Europe. He drew himself into a cartoon and added a joke about the English Channel. An American, the cartoonist later was a captain in the British Army. (Harrisburg Telegraph, August 10, 1914, via Library of Congress)
The Aurora Borealis in central Ohio tonight …
November 12, 2025 at 4:51 AM
The Aurora Borealis in central Ohio tonight …
Long ago and far away.
November 11, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Long ago and far away.
Central Ohio this morning.
November 10, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Central Ohio this morning.
Colorful walk this afternoon.
November 8, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Colorful walk this afternoon.
Profile of aviator Frank Hawks, from a series on popular pilots by writer/illustrator Ace Brady. (Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, March 10, 1935.) — #avgeeks
![Illustration of glider Eaglet towed by Waco biplane Texaco 7, Northrop Gamma monoplane Sky Chief in flight, and head-and-shoulders portrait of Frank Hawks. Text: "COMMANDER FRANK M. HAWKS. HOLDER OF MORE INTER-CITY SPEED RECORDS THAN ANY OTHER PILOT IN THE WORLD, STARTED AS A BARNSTORMER’S 'ASSISTANT,' BECAME AVIATION INSTRUCTOR DURING THE WAR,—LATER BECAME A GYPSY FLYER AND SERVED SIX YEARS AS AN AIR SOLDIER IN MEXICO, BUT QUIT DURING THE DE LA HUERTA REVOLU TION BECAUSE HE HAD FRIENDS ON BOTH SIDES. HE FLEW FROM SAN DIEGO TO NEW YORK IN A GLIDER. (TOWED, BY AM AIRPLANE)" [signed] Ace Brady](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:7f4vpvbsqyptuj73gqldy2zz/bafkreie23obo4i6laubjs6ktbffwheevrv2r6mhspuljdycfcvqs4gfrje@jpeg)
November 7, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Profile of aviator Frank Hawks, from a series on popular pilots by writer/illustrator Ace Brady. (Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, March 10, 1935.) — #avgeeks
@newyorker.com cartoon, November 2019 — #NoKings
November 5, 2025 at 3:19 PM
@newyorker.com cartoon, November 2019 — #NoKings