Roller Derby girls in Life Magazine, 1948
Arcadia Books has released a new local history book about our Roller Derby legacy, co-authored by Jerry Seltzer, the man who brought Roller Derby to the Bay Area.
Roller Derby found a home in the San Francisco Bay Area following its Depression-era Chicago origins. An early television sensation, it faded to a modest existence in Los Angeles during the 1950s. Creator Leo Seltzer turned the game over to his son Jerry, who repositioned the traveling Bay Bombers from their home terrain of San Francisco to Fresno and everywhere in-between. He shined television camera lights on skaters who became the zenith in Roller Derby, including Charlie OConnell, Annis Jensen, Joanie Weston, and more. Syndicated television games seen by millions yielded sellout crowds in every major arena in the country. However, economic and cultural changes closed Roller Derby in 1973. Passionate fans clung tenaciously to its memory. In the 21st century, the game made an astonishing return not only in Northern California but also worldwide.
Bay Area Roller Derby is full of interesting history and fantastic pictures, detailing the rise of the sport here in the Bay Area and the leagues it spurred across the country. At one time it was on 120 television stations in the US and Canada and filled Madison Square Garden, the Oakland Coliseum and Chicago White Sox Park.
Join Seltzer at Green Apple to hear about his adventures as “The Commissioner” of Roller Derby. He has a real legacy in the sport – his father Leo created the sport and first league in Chicago in 1935. Jerry Seltzer assumed ownership of the league in 1959 and ran it until its demise in 1973 (he’s even got a cool blog about the sport).
The event takes place at Green Apple Books (506 Clement) this Friday at 7pm.
Sarah B.