His tale confirms faith in humanity.
-THE WASHINGTON POST
Mississippi River, 1997
TRUE FANS (1999)
A film by Dan Austin, Jared Austin, Clint Ewell
Directed by Dan Austin
“Heart Made of Wind” Written and Performed by Cherie Call
Winner of the People’s Choice Award, Banff Mountain Film Festival
Screened in cities around the world to theatrical audiences of more than 100,000
Aired on Outside Television for a few years
Inspired a book (TRUE FANS by Dan Austin / Lyons Press)
Inspired a musical (TRUE FANS the musical) from Bill Rosenfield, starring Saycon Sengbloh. Music/lyrics by Chris Miller and Nathan Tysen. Performances at Playwrights Horizons, NYC. Winner of the Richard Rogers Award.
Inspired a play, ANOTHER AMERICA, opened at the Park Theatre in London, April 2022.
(feature/other rights available / dan@88bikes.org)
Origin story -
SMASH TO:
3 guys biked across America.
No support vehicle.
No cell phone.
No social media.
10 bucks a day.
Camping everywhere.
They started out at Venice Beach. Los Angeles. At the famous basketball courts.
They towed a bike trailer behind their bikes called
The Ark of the Covenant.
Inside the Ark they carried sleeping bags and camera gear and peanut butter and two basketballs:
One ball to play with
and a second, virgin, NBA basketball
the “Heroes Ball”
which they’d ask nice folks across America to sign.
Coal miner Dick Simmons in West Virginia gave them a coal-streaked five-dollar bill.
He signed the ball.
Reverend Shaw let them crash on the lawn of his church in Pasadena.
He signed the Ball.
Margie “The Walkin’ Lady” gave them wisdom for the journey ahead.
She signed the Ball.
Kelli and Rita showed them the way on horseback, down a dirt trail, deep in the San Bernardino Wilderness.
They signed the Ball.
100 days and a whole summer later
they planned to present this Heroes Ball
bearing the imprint of humanity
to the Powers that Be
at the Basketball Hall of Fame
as a token of America
in hopes they would enshrine it…
-
LONDON
Another America a play based on TRUE FANS opens in London at the Park Theatre. Here are a few good reviews (we’ll kinda conveniently ignore the one bad review)
*Want to be a True Fan?
Make a donation of any amount to my nonprofit, 88bikes, and I’ll gladly send you a pdf of the TRUE FANS book.
Sign up for a recurring donation and correctly answer the question: Did Jordan push off? And I’ll drop a limited edition hard copy of the book in the mail to you.
88bikes endows bicycles to women and girls around the world, especially the heroic survivors of gender-based violence. Practicing Joy-Based Philanthropy® since 2007.
After all the great times we’ve had on bikes — biking across America and all over the world — we had to do something to pay it forward. 88bikes has endowed more than 12,000 bikes to heroic women and girls in 21 countries.
And we’re just getting started.
Growing up in Utah, we watched John Stockton and Karl Malone win a gold medal with the Dream Team, beat the Bulls in triple OT and go to the Finals twice.
The year before biking across America, in 1996, my brothers Jared and Micah and I and our buddy Clint made a pilgrimage by bike during the playoffs from Utah to Jack and Dan’s Tavern in Spokane, Washington.
Jack and Dan’s is owned by Jack Stockton, John’s father, and, as such, it represents a Mecca of Jazzfandom.
800 miles, 2 weeks, and whole lotta basketball...
Thanks to Jack Stockton and everyone at Jack and Dan’s Tavern for the nice welcome and free drinks!
Cheers!
Prequel to TRUE FANS:
PILGRIMAGE OF THE TRUE JAZZ FANS
1997
A film by Dan Austin, Jared Austin, Micah Austin, Clint Ewell
Directed by Dan Austin
Jordan pushed off.
We love hoops.
Here’s the coolest one I’ve ever found, a few hours drive outside Arusha in Tanzania…
