Setting the Stage: The Early Days of Auburn Football
The book begins just before the Civil War. The Methodist Church of Alabama agreed to sponsor two new colleges in Alabama. One would become what we commonly refer to as Auburn. Most Alabamians saw the winds of war brewing but believed it would only result in a minor skirmish along the northern Virginia border. No one believed that there would be any impact on Alabama. They were wrong. The war quickly escalated into the State of Alabama forcing Auburn to close its doors. While other colleges in Alabama were burned to the ground, the school was spared and even served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers injured in battle.
Reopening its doors after the conclusion of the war, Auburn struggled to stay afloat, but its leaders could see light at the end of the tunnel. In the mist of rapidly changing times, Auburn’s leaders overcame the objections of faculty members who demanded more funding, and religious leaders who thought the sport would be too dangerous, to field its first football team. This is the story of those who worked together to establish the sport we know and love today.
Setting the Stage, The Early Days of Auburn Football is available on Amazon.com
Memories of a Salty Pirate and His Beautiful Maiden
Neal’s adventures began in the winter of 1948 as a whopping 9 pound 9 ounce bundle of joy. His adventures had just begun. Finding his roots in Birmingham and finding the love of his life in high school classmate and Auburn University friend, and wife, Melinda Vann, the book is about 45 fun, sad, outrageous, and unforgettable true-life experiences shared by them over their 50 year marriage. Beginning in elementary school, his time in Shades Valley High School, his escape to Auburn, and going from frat boy to an officer in the U.S. Navy six days later, Neal outlines his life as a lawyer, finding humor in a profession that is hard to find. He finds the lighter side of his marriage to his maiden, Melinda and their four children, and takes you through Melinda’s role in Auburn University’s first volleyball team, the first woman’s organized sport to play in the State of Alabama.
Neal gives his expert advice on how to handle an accident: When he first arrived on the scene of an accident in which Melinda and son, Vann, had just collided with a Mercedes driven by a lady on her way to a tennis clinic, he asked the lady,” how’s it going?” She took it like a man.
On realizing you are no longer a young man: He thought it still had it going on until a beautiful lady in a silver sequined dress strolled across the room and headed right to him only to tell him his shoes were untied and she was afraid he might fall.
On getting older: He always thought old was someone who was 15 years older than he until he realized that these people are already taking dirt naps.
Overriding all of his stories in his book is the spirit of living every day to the fullest knowing that your frisbee might get stuck on the roof at any time.
Memories of a Salty Pirate and His Beautiful Maiden can be found in the Bookshop at Bookbaby.com
Heisman’s Game
Movies
Heisman’s Game is an adaptation of author, Neal Whitt’s book, Setting the Stage, The Early Days of Auburn Football. Brought to the screen by a joint venture composed of Stage Six Films, Universal Studios, and FX Productions, Heisman’s Game follows the early career of John Heisman as the Head Coach of the Auburn Tigers football team. Heisman faced the pressure of boosters who wanted a winning football team in a time of limited financial resources as well as opposition by college professors who thought the sport of football further limited resources available to them. Heisman also faced the rath of influential clergy members who wanted the sport banned on college campuses because the sport was too violent, The story follows John Heisman as he navigates these challenges on his way to preparing his team for the biggest game of the year against the Geogia Tech Golden Tornadoes.
Assistance in bringing the book to life was provided by Steve Kloves who wrote and directed The Fabulous Baker Boys and is best known for his work with J.K Rowling in writing all of the screenplays except one for the Harry Potter Series of movies.
Heisman’s Game is now in production planning and will launch from New York City in early 2027.