Gerald L. Early, Merle Kling professor of modern letters at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses his cultural observations on Curt Flood, the first player in Major League Baseball to challenge the infamous "reserve clause", which opened the doors to free agency.
Early is a noted essayist and American culture critic. A professor of English, of African & African American studies and of American culture studies, Early is the author of several books, including *The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting*, *Literature*, and *Modern American Culture*, which won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism. He is also editor of numerous volumes, including *This Is Where I Came In: Black America in the 1960s* (2003); *The Sammy Davis, Jr. Reader* (2001); *Miles Davis and American Culture* (2001); *The Muhammad Ali Reader *(1998); and *Body Language: Writers on Spor*t (1998). He served as a consultant on Ken Burns' documentary films on baseball and jazz, which both aired on PBS.