Eddie Brooks is shown above right as a member of the Kansas City Monarchs in 1962, when they were barnstorming through the Midwest and South playing the Harlem Stars, organized by  Reece “Goose” Tatum (left) and starring LeRoy “Satchel” Paige (center). Brooks also playd for the Negro League’s Houston Eagles, New Orleans Eagles, Birmingham Black Barons. where he and was a teammate of future country-music artist Charley Pride.

Brooks was in town this July for the release of the biography “Major League Dreams, Minor League Memories: The Life and Times of Eddie ‘Porky’ Brooks.” For more information, go to www.wcbu.org/local-news