“Bring One Home” releases November 1, 2025

Thomas L. Pelissero is excited to announce the official release of his first book, Bring One Home: A Memoir of Boyhood, Basketball, and Hometown Spirit, an in-depth look at the true story of the struggles the Bessemer Speedboys high school basketball team faced in the 1960s.

Pelissero, who grew up in Bessemer and currently resides in Erwin Township, was inspired to write the book after flipping through his old scrapbook and seeing a newspaper clipping featuring the Bessemer Speedboys basketball team cutting down the net after ending their prolonged losing streak. As he was remembering that night and those wonderful memories, the historian in him asked, “What was the root cause of the Speedboys long losing streak?”

“I started asking questions of boys who were on that team back in the 1960s, and the more I asked questions, the more intriguing the story,” said Pelissero. “This led to eight years of investigating and writing about Bessemer.”

As the story emerged, it became clear that the team’s difficulties at times mirrored the town’s economic challenges of the same period, marked by mine closures, job losses and the fading of long-held prosperity. The tale that unfolds is a powerful test of resilience, revealing the true spirit and character of a community facing hardship both on and off the court.

Thoroughly researched, Bring One Home is rich with the history of the town of Bessemer and a good fit for any reader that loves a small-town story, high school sports sagas, or life in 1960s.

Bring One Home will be available November 1 to order on Amazon or November 3 to purchase at The Leather and Gift Shop in Bessemer. Readers can order signed copies here.