Coleman Would Not Want to be Mistaken for Gay

Author Gay Talese's autobiography "A Writer's Life," newly released by publisher Alfred A. Knoph, recounts Talese's chance meeting with Baseball Hall of Fame broadcaster Jerry Coleman during a Yankees Old Timer's Game day at Yankee Stadium. Talese at the time was a reporter for The New York Times and, thinking he would amuse the former decorated Marine pilot with an anecdote from the days of Talese's service in the Army, recalled that he once used Coleman's name to check into a motel with a stewardess he met on a flight. Rather than be amused, Coleman's face flushed, he grimmaced and stomped off, leaving Talese puzzled. What Talese failed to realize is that Coleman is a straight shooter who later became devoted to his wife Maggie, and would not want to be thought of as being in an unseemly situation with a strange stewardess. Moreover, Coleman most certainly would not want to be mistaken for Gay.