The "Dean" of wrestling lives on through the written word

Gordon Solie was the familiar face and voice booming into American living rooms as host of Championship Wrestling from Florida (1961-1987), Georgia Championship Wrestling (1973-1984) and WCW (1989-1995). His articulate description of action in the “squared circle” combined with a voice that sounded like “sixteen pounds of gravel” earned him affectionate nicknames such as the “Walter Cronkite of Wrestling” (Entertainment Tonight), the “Howard Cosell of Wrestling” and the “Dean of Wrestling Announcers.” Since 1995, Solie has been inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, the National Wrestling Alliance Hall of Fame and his name appeared on WWE’s 2005 Hall of Fame ballot.
Although professional wrestling lost its “Golden Age” broadcasting icon when Solie passed away in 2000, his words are still heard on DVD’s and video tapes in addition to tens of thousands of internet references. The “Dean” is again entertaining the masses, this time through his previously unpublished writings. “Gordon Solie…Something Left Behind” (Florida Media, Inc. ISBN 0-9763062-290000) is a collection of rare photographs woven through short stories and prose penned by Solie. The three year labor of love by co-authors, Robert and Pamela Allyn (Solie’s daughter) culminated when Gordon Solie Enterprises, Inc. reached an agreement with E. Douglas Cifers, one of Florida’s leading online book sellers and publishers.
Book reviews are now available on U.S. and Canadian hosted websites and will soon appear through webmasters in the UK and Australia. For more information, contact Florida Media, Inc. (www.floridabookstore.com) or Bob Allyn (gse@tampabay.rr.com).