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New Cheesehead TV Book About Packers History Launches in Green Bay Sometimes things go wrong, even when everything seems just right. By Kevin Gibson It was quite a weekend in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The new book “The Green Bay Packers: An Illustrated Timeline” officially launched at an event downtown – except it almost didn’t. Guess I should start from the beginning. Our publisher, St. Louis-based Reedy Press, told us the shipping date for books to us would be mid-August, meaning I had every confidence in scheduling an Aug. 29 launch event at St. Brendan’s Inn & Pub in downtown Green Bay, an eight-hour drive from my house in Louisville. What could possibly go wrong? Welp. Sometimes when a third party gets involved, plans change. And that’s exactly what happened – the printing house in Manitoba, Canada, had mechanical issues, delaying printing and shipping. And then things began to get tight. This led to the notification on the morning I was headed to Green Bay that the 100 books I had ordered would not be at their intended destination on the intended day. Indeed, they were stuck at the Canadian border. Maybe retaliatory tariffs were involved? I guess we’ll never know. I made a plea to my colleague Barbara at Reedy Press, who quickly went into action to get 100 books overnighted to Green Bay from St. Louis as, for some reason, their books had been delivered on time even though mine hadn’t. Back and forth we went regarding logistics, but let’s just say I was increasingly stressed as my friend Butch and I slowly made the drive north. Yes, it was possible, if not likely, I was about to travel eight hours to Green Bay to do a book signing ... without any books. It was honestly the first time in my life I had ever experienced an honest to goodness panic attack – to the point that Butch asked if I was having pain in my left arm. But I’ll leave that story for another time. Once it was all said and done, the books arrived on time, the event went on as planned, and the newest book about Green Bay Packers history was delivered into the world for the first time. There were plenty of Packers fans on hand, many of them in green and gold attire. One couple who approached me noted they were there to buy a copy for their sister. I asked, “Do you guys live nearby?” Incredibly, the woman said,“We’re from Louisville, Ky.” Heck, if I’d only known, we could have carpooled. (Turns out they were in town to visit said sister.) In attendance at the event was Josh Gordon, whose father designed the now-famous ‘G’ logo back in the early Vince Lombardi era. But most importantly, after all the stress, Reedy Press came through, and the event went well. Meanwhile, my assumption was that those first 100 books were probably still in purgatory up north in Manitoba. I worked with Barbara to arrange for them to be returned to the Reed Press warehouse in St. Louis for safe keeping and future events. Two days later, back in Louisville, I came home from a meeting with an old friend, and what did I find? Those 100 liberated books on my front porch, stacked in cardboard boxes. Oh well. At least they finally ended up somewhere, I guess, rather than remaining stuck in Canada. The book officially releases Sept. 15; look for it on Amazon, at bookstores across Wisconsin and the surrounding region and at select Target locations. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHEESEHEAD NATION WEEKLY NEWSLETTER HERE. __________________________ Kevin Gibson is a professional writer and author based in Louisville, Ky. He's also a former sports writer who covered high school, college and professional sports, a Packers shareholder and a fan since 1975. Even John Hadl couldn't break him. Follow him on Twitter: @kgramone __________________________