The Packers, My Dad, and Me

The Green Bay Packers were in the midst of establishing themselves as a National Football League power in 1929 when John Walter took a summer job at his hometown newspaper, the Green Bay Press-Gazette. He soon would have a front-row seat to the Packers’ first stretch of glory years while navigating the challenges of becoming an adult during the Great Depression.

Tony Walter, like his father a former Press-Gazette sports editor, combines his own narrative with John Walter’s personal diaries and newspaper columns to provide a first-hand account of life in the 1930s and a behind-the-scenes look at the fledgling NFL. Pro Football Hall of Fame members Curly Lambeau, Don Hutson, Cal Hubbard, Johnny (Blood) McNally, Clarke Hinkle, Mike Michalske, and Arnie Herber not only were topics of John Walter’s reporting, some even became personal friends.