Best Selling Writer Larry Guest, Cocoa Community First Team Up For Book Signing

By  //  July 28, 2016

Cocoa High Graduate awarded P.A.L scholarship

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The book contains full chapters of mostly unreported humorous and revealing stories featuring major sports personalities Guest engaged professionally and socially during his 30-plus years as a syndicated columnist.

BREVARD COUNTY • COCOA VILLAGE, FLORIDA – After nearly three decades writing for the Orlando Sentinel, bestselling author and former sports columnist Larry Guest once confessed, “I hate to write.”

Guest went on to explain his love for the business came in interacting with people, and chasing the stories.

As one of the nation’s most respected and well-known sports columnists, Guest was honored by his peers as the Sports Writer of the Year in Florida three times. His stories are legendary, as was his feud with former Florida Gators football head coach, Steve Spurrier.

Spurrier had a longstanding issue with Guest that has lasted over 20 years. Guest wrote about an appearance at a Jacksonville Gator Club function in which Spurrier was said to have been booed after he offered public support to the Jacksonville mayor who that day had pulled out of the race for an NFL expansion franchise.

Guest wrote about it, but Spurrier said he was never booed and demanded a retraction and an apology. Guest promised to check his sources and after he did and was told by even more of his sources that Spurrier was booed, Guest refused to take it back.

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Spurrier told Guest he was never speaking to him again. That was 20 years ago.

Despite hating the actual writing aspect of his career choice and lucky for all of us sports fans, Guest decided to write another book. On Tuesday in Cocoa Village at the Black Tulip Restaurant, Guest held an invitation-only charity book launch and signing.

Larry’s newest book, his seventh, is called “Sports Icons ‘R Funny!”

Leroy Darby (CCF), Scholarship winner Javan Truttling, David Lightholder (CCF) & Cocoa Police Chief Michael Cantaloupe
CCF Executive Director, Leroy Darby, Scholarship winner Javan Truttling, CCF’s David Lightholder  & Cocoa Police Chief Michael Cantaloupe pose for a picture after presenting scholarship

The book contains a compilation of full chapters of mostly unreported humorous and revealing stories featuring major sports personalities Guest engaged professionally and socially during his 30-plus years as a syndicated columnist.

They include Bear Bryant, Mantle, Shaq, Arnold Palmer, Payne Stewart, Bobby Bowden, Steve Spurrier, Lou Holtz, Don Shula, Joe Namath, Cris Collinsworth, Ernie Els and others.

Speaking of Brevard County’s own, former Astronaut High and Florida Gator star, and now an Emmy Award winner in the broadcast booth for NBC on Sunday Night Football, Chris Collinsworth sent a personalized message to Guest, which was played for the for the 40 or so people on hand.

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GUEST OF HONOR: Larry Guest speaks to the gathered crowd at The Black Tulip in Cocoa Village on Tuesday night. Guest’s latest book, “Sports Icons R Funny” was released in print this week.

Current Pittsburgh Pirates skipper and Merritt Island High School graduate Clint Hurdle also sent a videotaped message to Guest. Several local dignitaries were in attendance including Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey and Cocoa Police Chief Michael Cantaloupe.

ABOVE VIDEO: Cocoa Community First is the police department’s non-profit charity designed to help fund all of our youth outreach programs. This video highlights some of the many reasons this charity was set up and why it’s so important to connect with our community in positive ways.

A copy of Guest’s latest book could be had with a donation to the Cocoa Police Athletic League.

The Police Athletic League and Cocoa Community First is the police department’s non-profit charity designed to help fund youth outreach programs.

Prior to Larry Guest’s scheduled appearance, P.A.L and Cocoa Community First handed out this year’s scholarship check to Javan Truttling. A graduate of Cocoa High School, Truttling will be attending Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens starting next month, where he will study education.

Guest spoke to the crowd for about 10 minutes, played the Collinsworth and Hurdle videos, signed books and thanked everyone.

Guest’s books “ARNIE: Inside the Legend” and “The Payne Stewart Story” made several bestseller lists shortly before his retirement from the Orlando Sentinel in 2000.

Reviews on his latest book have been a hit. Florida novelist Bob Morris declared: “Icons are funny? No, icons are freaking hilarious!”

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Orlando Magic VP Pat Williams says the book is “chock full of entertaining stories, one after another, from one of America’s leading sports writers. You can’t put it down.” Hall of Fame football coach Lou Holtz declared: “I’m still laughing. A most entertaining read.”

The entertaining book was released earlier this month in eBook form on Amazon.com ($4.99). The print edition is now available where most books are sold.

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Brervard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey and Cocoa Police Chief Michael Cantaloupe
Cocoa Community First's David Lightholder and Sgeriff Wayne Iver pose with this years scholarsuip winer, Javan Truttling
Cocoa Community First’s David Lightholder and Sheriff Wayne Ivey pose with this years scholarship winner, Javan Truttling
A good turnout on Tuesday evening at the Black Tulip in Cocoa Village for Larry Guest's book signing and charity scholarship presentation.
A good turnout on Tuesday evening at the Black Tulip in Cocoa Village for Larry Guest’s book signing and charity scholarship presentation.

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