First off, what made you decide to write the book?
I’m a native Pittsburgher – I grew up watching and listening to Myron Cope. He was inescapable – he was on the news, commercials, billboards – I was a fan like so many people.
My wife is friends with a woman who is a friend of Elizabeth Cope, and she learned that Elizabeth had all of Myron’s work materials still – tapes, contracts, notes… Elizabeth wanted to do something with it all – maybe write a book. So we ended up meeting.
Myron had written an autobiography but we thought there was certainly so much more of his story to tell using all of these items. It was a treasure-trove of things from his childhood, time at Pitt, the Post-Gazette, as a national sportswriter up until his time working with the Steelers. It was so engrossing. I call myself a Steelers nerd, and just digging through those boxes and finding things like the first Terrible Towel royalty statement from 1979 and seeing how fast that took off. Letters from Ernie Stautner….
Was it hard determining what to use and not to use in all of that?
Some things we had to leave our – they were too in the weeds or too personal. But most of the stuff got in. It was difficult plowing through all of those boxes. Some of the tapes were enticing but frustrating – some were just unplayable formats like reel-to-reel audio and tape cartridges – I don’t know where you can play those anymore.
Was there a particular focus you saw the book taking over time – a certain way you wanted to present things?
Elizabeth and I wanted to go behind the scenes with Myron – to see what was behind the scenes of what fans saw. Elizabeth wanted to also illuminate his relationship with his son Danny who was autistic and had brain damage. He still lives at the Allegheny Valley School for people with disabilities. That’s where all the proceeds of the Terrible Towel still go.
Elizabeth was very forthcoming about the challenges Danny presented. He was disruptive and violent at times and couldn’t speak – he still can’t. That’s why they had to put him in a home. And for someone known for his voice, it was very frustrating for Myron to not be able to speak with his son.
Were there any stories or facets of his life that surprised you most?
Not any one big thing. A couple things that did surprise me though. He changed his name early in life, when he worked for the Post-Gazette. AN editor there told him to change his name from Kopelman – it sounded too German. Myron changed it to Cope. Myron also realized it was more memorable as Cope. He changed it when he was 26 – he knew that was the way to go.
Also, off-camera and microphone, Myron was not the same guy as on-air. Elizabeth would say he had the same personality, but with the electricity turned off. On air he was more energetic and hammy. He was a lot less flamboyant off air.
He was such a terrific writer – does that sometimes get lost in his story given his personality and broadcasting career?
In the end he thought of himself as a writer first. If he wasn’t so successful as a broadcaster he would have stayed a writer. He wrote for all the big magazines then when the circulations were in the millions. But I think his writing skills did get lost over time.
Interestingly, after he retired from broadcasting he tried to revive his writing career. He wrote an article for Sports Illustrated on the 2006 Steelers. It didn’t get published but it was enlightening that he wanted to get back to being part of the sports scene.
Do you think there can be another Myron Cope?
That’s an excellent question. I’m a big fan of Craig Wolfley – I think he’s on par with Myron. But it’s hard for a person like Myron to flourish today. He built his persona over 10 years starting at WTAE.
As a kid, Myron wasn’t saying things like “Yoi”, “Zounds” and “Okle Dokle”. Which is funny because those are things you could hear a kid saying for fun. That call came when he went on the air. WTAE nourished and protected him then from things that might cause controversy today. A good example was in ’74 when Joe Gilliam threw a touchdown pass to Randy Grossman. It’s safe to say that was the first time a Black quarterback threw a touchdown to a Jewish tight end. Well, Myron yelled “Play that soul music and dance the Hava Nagillah!” That kind of thing may not fly today. It’s hard to have someone be that unrestrained today.
What did you notice if anything about Myron’s upbringing that helped form that persona you talk about?
He grew up in Squirrel Hill – a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. And one with a lot of immigrants. He learned Yiddish and German – words no one else was using like “Dumbkopf”, “Yoi”, “Okle Dokle”….that did help him stand out.
But we did an extensive section of the book on his family genealogical background and we learned that there really wasn’t a lot there that shaped who he had become. It seemed incidental to his career. His dad was a baseball fan and his mother and sister didn’t care about sports. The really fascinating part of his development came later in college when his journalism career began. He wandered on his own path.
Are there parts of the book and his story you like the most?
My favorite part is when we talk about the ’72 season when he really became the conduit between the players and fans, and vice versa. That was the year the team was getting to be really good and fans were noticing. They started forming clubs like Gerela’s Gorillas and Franco’s Italian Army. Fans went through Myron to get some publicity – they made him a one-star general in Franco’s Italian Army in a public ceremony. He got into it. He even gave the clubs ideas – including having the Gerela’ Gorilla’s make signs to throw off opposing kickers. They had one for the Browns’ Don Cockroft that said “Hey Cockroft, think!” I think that actually caused him to miss some field goals!
Franco’s Italian Army even got Myron to get Frank Sinatra into the club as a one-star general and made Myron a two-star general for it!
That was really the beginning of Steeler Nation then – that bond was really formed between the fans and team.
Lastly, where -and when – can we buy the book?
It publishes on September first and will be at Barnes and Noble and Steelers Pro Shops. And of course on Amazon and our publisher’s site at University of Nebraska Press.
We’re doing a press conference and book signing for the book as well at the South Hills Village Barnes and Noble too on September 6.
Fans should also go to the Official Myron Cope Youtube Channel – you can see some great old videos and commentary there from Myron.