2019 Nine Conference speakers: Curt Smith (author of The Presidents and the Pastime) and Nancy Faust (White Sox stadium organist, 1970-2010)
Lead-off Session: an Evening with Nancy Faust
For 40 years, Nancy Faust entertained White Sox fans, as the organist at Comiskey Park (both old and new, later known as US Cellular Field). Faust popularized the use of contemporary music, particularly “Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye” when opposing pitchers left the game. Faust worked closely with Bill Veeck and Harry Caray, and she has earned a number of accolades and honors. Sports Illustrated described her as baseball’s “Most Valuable Organist.” In 2018, she was inducted into the Shrine of the Eternals by the Baseball Reliquary.
Curt Smith is the author of seventeen books, including Voices of The Game, a history of baseball broadcasting, Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story, and Mercy! A Celebration of Fenway Park’s Centennial. Smith served as speechwriter for President George H.W. Bush and is now a senior lecturer of English at the University of Rochester.
