by Dooley, Vince; Diirr, Michael (foreword); Armitage, Allan (afterword)
Illustrations/Photography by: Penley, Steve (paintings); Dirr, Michael and Sheppard, Teresa Penley (photography)

Published in 2010 by Looking Glass Books, Inc., Decatur, Georgia
ISBN: 009781900000000
Edition: First
Binding: Hardback
Condition: Near fine
Dust Jacket included. Condition of Dust Jacket: Near fine
Comments: The name Vince Dooley is synonymous with football not only in his home state of Georgia but far beyond. He served as head coach at the University of Georgia from 1964 to 1988, accumulating an astonishing 201–77–10 record, making him at the time of his retirement the second-winningest coach in Southeastern Conference history, behind only Bear Bryant. But the term “retirement” was relative. He may have finished with coaching, but he stayed on as athletic director, a title he added to head coach in 1979, for 16 more years, not retiring from that job until 2004. With all that free time on his hands after leaving coaching (though while still serving as AD), he was able to pursue other interests. Taking advantage of his academic surroundings, in 1995, he started auditing horticulture courses taught by Professor Michael A. Dirr, complete with labs and field trips. It seems that Dooley approached gardening with the same intensity and dedication that he approached football. In the introduction to “Vince Dooley’s Garden: The Horticulture Journey of a Football Coach,” Dirr says that Dooley had developed his own hydrangea cultivar and probably had hundreds of rare woody plants in his garden, carefully labeled and mapped. The garden, before Dooley’s death in 2022, was constantly expanding even to the point where Dooley kept buying additional land, not to mention additional features to enhance the plants, and when visiting horticulturalists came to town, their main request was to visit his garden. Though this is a beautiful book, with its paintings and photographs, it’s also a more serious book than might be suggested by a memoir of a football coach about his garden. The history of botanical names, Department of Agriculture hardiness zones, grafting practices, camellia scions…this is a man who knows his stuff.

Our copy is signed by Dooley but has an additional inscription by the primary illustrator, the painter Steve Penley. While Dooley’s bold signature is at the bottom of the title page, Penley has written at the top, “Beverly, Happy trails! Penley 2010” and sketched a vase of flowers with his name beside it at the top of the same page. The top corners of the boards are bumped to the point that it affects the dust jacket as well as the book itself, but aside for a negligible bump at the bottom of the spine, the book is otherwise in virtually flawless condition, with bright, unmarked pages and tight, square binding. The dust jacket has some slight rubbing, but no tears or chips. See our photos for details.

Signed Copy

Seller Inventory #: 0000530