Coach Don Meyer

Lately I've been reading biographies. I like to read them in the evening and at night, leaving the work-related, more technical reading, for the daytime. Now that I'm preaching through 1 Peter, I read about 100 pages per week from various works related to the particular preaching text. I also like to have another book to read through the week. Right now I am reading Preaching in an Inventive Age by Doug Pagitt. The book affirms my collaborative approach to preaching and challenges me to take it further. We'll see...

Anyway, back to biographies... I've read books by/about Colt McCoy, Tim Tebow, and Don Meyer. Now I am reading one about Mother Teresa. The Meyer book was probably the most interesting to me. Why? Because I actually know him and was greatly influenced by him in my early days at Lipscomb. I had friends who knew him well, so I spent some time around him. I believe he spoke at a retreat that I went to. (We're talking 30+ years ago, so my memory is fuzzy.)

Meyer influenced me tremendously in the area of organization. He introduced me to the Day-Timer system of organization. I followed it faithfully for many years. Every year I would order my new Day-Timer calendars and would spend time contemplating which format to using, rarely switching.

Meyer was the basketball coach at Lipscomb for many years and left when Lipscomb went Division 1. He left because he felt like it was a huge mistake for Lipscomb to make the move. He continued to win games at another university and surpassed Bobby Knight's wins last year. He is highly respected in the world of basketball coaches.

He had a terrible car accident about 3 years ago, nearly dying. As a result of the accident, he lost a leg, which was bad enough, but they also discovered that he had terminal cancer. How Lucky You Can Be is a great read. I found it powerful and inspirational. It was enjoyable for me because I knew some of the people and a lot of the places referenced in the book.