Bessemer native Thomas L. Pelissero recently visited our studios to discuss his debut memoir, "Bring One Home," a reflection on boyhood, basketball, and small-town resilience. The book explores the Bessemer Speedboys of the 1960s, a team defined by a daunting losing streak, and the broader challenges facing the community during a period of mine closures, economic uncertainty, and shifting local identity.
Pelissero said the story lived with him for decades before he began writing in earnest following his retirement. What started as a childhood memory of the night Bessemer finally broke its long streak of losses became an eight-year project involving extensive research and interviews with more than fifty people. He blended the on-court narrative with personal family stories, shaping a portrait of a community navigating both athletic setbacks and real economic hardship.
A key thread in the memoir is how the town’s financial strain directly affected the basketball program. As mines closed and revenue dwindled, school budgets tightened; youth basketball opportunities disappeared, gyms were locked, and younger players arrived at the high school level without the fundamentals their competitors had. Pelissero traces how those early decisions reverberated throughout the decade and how coaches and community members worked to rebuild the program despite limited resources.
The memoir also steps back to explore Bessemer’s vibrant past, from its bustling 1960s downtown to the social rhythms of a place where football reigned and Friday nights filled the local stadium. Pelissero contrasts that energy with the economic and demographic changes that followed, while highlighting the shared values and self-reliance familiar to many who grew up in U.P. towns. Early readers outside Bessemer, he notes, have already found their own hometowns reflected in its pages.
In writing the book, Pelissero immersed himself in archives, family recollections, and the memories of former Speedboys…once his childhood heroes, now in their seventies and eighties. He also revisited the town’s earlier triumphs, including the 1947 championship team led by his father, using that high point as a narrative counterweight to the challenges of the 1960s.
Public Radio 90's Kurt Hauswirth spoke with Pelissero about his memoir:
Ultimately, Bring One Home is as much about place as it is about sport. Pelissero draws connections between the pressures faced by the basketball team and the broader anxieties of a community working to define its future, all while preserving the stories that shaped generations.
The book is available on Amazon and at Chickadees and Peter White Public Library in Marquette. Visit thomaslpelissero.com for more information.
