Leo Ackerman (2017, History) returned to Oxford last week to launch his new book, Mad Dog: The Mickey Lewis Story. Mad Dog celebrates the life and work of Mickey Lewis, one of English football’s most combative midfielders, who became one of the game’s most inspirational coaches.
Both Leo and his co-writer, Alex Urwin (2015, Exeter, PPE), played for Mickey Lewis, as captains of the Oxford University Blues. Now, drawing on more than 100 hours of interviews – with contributions from the likes of Ron Atkinson, Martin Jol, Jim Rosenthal, Des Buckingham, and Chris Wilder – they have written this book exploring Mickey’s playing career, and his journey to become a pioneering coach. Mad Dog hit #1 in football biographies on launch day, and has been nominated as talkSPORT’s Book of the Week this week, but Leo emphasises that that this is not just a book for the football fan, but for anyone interested in the power of sport to build character.
Leo and Alex with Mickey’s family and club members at the launch
Mad Dog was launched at Exeter College, where representatives of Oxford United, Oxford City, and the University football club gathered to celebrate Mickey. The launch included hearing from Suzanne, Mickey’s wife, and SeeSaw, the local charity that the book’s proceeds are supporting. Reflecting on the process of writing the book, Leo said of his conversations with Mickey’s family, “We talked a lot about ‘silver linings’ since Mickey’s passing, and releasing the book out into the world has felt like one big, beautiful silver lining.”
The book launch taking place in Oxford also gave Leo the chance to return to Somerville, and he commented, “I am so proud to be a Somervillian, and that pride deepened when I returned on the night of the launch to be greeted by porters who remembered my name, showed a genuine interest in what I was doing, and lit up in unison when I showed them the book. They always supported my efforts in university football, and made me feel like I always had a safe and happy home to come back to. I always wished Mickey had been able to come to a Somerville dinner – he’d have loved the fact that you could walk on the grass.”
Mad Dog is available to purchase here, and you can hear Leo and Alex talking about the book on BBC Radio Oxford here (beginning at 1:43:45).