Congratulations, Doug!
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame
Inductee - Class of 2019
Relive the "thrill of victory" and the "agony of defeat" in Doug Wilson's memoir
about his 50 years with ABC Sports.
Praise for The World Was Our Stage
Al Michaels Emmy Award-Winning NBC Sportscaster Previously with ABC Sports for Three Decades |
Billie Jean King Sports Icon and Humanitarian Co-Founder, World Team Tennis |
"Doug Wilson revisits a time when ABC’s Wide World of Sports was must-see TV every weekend for millions of Americans. If some of these stories seem made up—trust me—they’re not. I was there for many of them and would walk away thinking, ‘You can’t make this stuff up.' It was great fun to witness and just as much fun to read about." 
Scott Hamilton 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist in Men’s Figure Skating Four-Time World Champion NBC Figure Skating Analyst "Doug Wilson’s sensitivity and his passion for ‘getting it right’ from the perspective of the athlete continue to define his amazing contributions to television. I love this book, and I couldn’t put it down." 
Curt Gowdy Jr. Emmy Award-Winning Executive Producer "For 50 years, Doug Wilson embodied the spirit and creative excellence that was ABC Sports. His passionate storytelling played an integral part in the success of Wide World of Sports, the longest and most celebrated sports anthology show in television history. Doug allowed the places, events, and athletes to always be in the story. This book relives the lost age of innocence in sports and chronicles its greatest athletes, ‘up close and personal.’ I was fortunate to produce many of the world’s greatest sporting events with Doug, and for that I am grateful.” 
Peggy Fleming Olympic and World Champion in Women's Figure Skating ABC Sports Analyst "Few people have ever conceived of covering the world of sports as Doug did through his eyes and ears. He did things differently from his directing contemporaries. He didn't just video an event. He lived in the moment with the athlete, the camera crew, the audio team. and the entire production unit. He captured the fine details and the grand energies. In this book, The World Was Our Stage, he shares his memories with the same approach--showing his love for athlete and sport, setting, and journey--as he did for so many years through the camera lens.” 
Jim Jennett National Sports Emmy Award-Winning Sports Television Director "In addition to all of the interesting and entertaining stories Doug Wilson tells with firsthand knowledge of the people and events that shaped ABC Sports, there is a great deal of history in this book. Not only is there plenty of sports history but also the history of the sports television industry from an insider point of view. The World Was Our Stage should be required reading for every student of broadcasting. What is documented in this book is critical for understanding the origins of this industry.” 
Diana Nyad Author, Journalist, Motivational Speaker and Long-Distance Swimmer "If you remember the phrase 'the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,' you will revel in these stories, from the terror of the Munich Olympics to the delight of Muhammad Ali.” 
Kirkus Reviews December 2013 "A monumental show brought to life again in a perfectly pitched read for sports fans." 
Dick Button Emmy Award-Winning Sports Analyst Olympic and World Champion in Men's Figure Skating "Doug Wilson has an elephantine memory. Our decades of working together at ABC Sports took us from Innsbruck, Austria, to Nagano, Japan, to Podunk, USA. I enjoyed reading about the history we shared." |
"ABC Sports and Wide World of Sports not only changed but also virtually created the sports television landscape in the US and set the standard by which sports coverage around the world is now measured. They had the vision to put the King/Riggs Battle of the Sexes match in prime time and it paid off for them and for Bobby and me, and it raised the profile of tennis worldwide—all while putting social change in the national spotlight. ABC Sports was a game changer and they fully understood the importance of bringing sports to the people.” 
Nadia Comaneci & Bart Conner Olympic and World Champions n Gymnastics "As Olympic athletes, we always cherished ABC’s Wide World of Sports for exposing sports like gymnastics to a much wider audience than our sport ever enjoyed before. Doug Wilson, who has been a friend for over thirty years, has always delighted us with his behind-the-scenes stories about this groundbreaking sports television show. We are thrilled that Doug has finally decided to share these incredible stories from the award-winning show that represented a paradigm shift in sports television.” 
Sean McManus Chairman, CBS Sports "Along with my father, Jim McKay, Doug Wilson was in many ways the heart and soul of ABC Sports. Doug’s passion for his craft and his remarkable creativity are surpassed only by his storytelling ability, both on television and in print. The World Was Our Stage is a fascinating and compassionate behind-the-scenes look at many of the greatest sports television stories and personalities of all time. My father would have loved this book, almost as much as he loved working with Doug." 
Christine Brennan USA Today National Sports Columnist ABC News Commentator Best-Selling Author of Inside Edge "Doug Wilson tells a fascinating story in The World Was Our Stage, a unique personal journey that also recalls the riveting history of the coming-of-age of sports television. Doug is one of the finest and kindest gentlemen to ever work in the business, and it’s a delight to go back in time with him as he spans the globe once more to tell the stories that he and his colleagues first told so magnificently decades ago. In Doug’s storytelling, it truly still is a wide, and wonderful, world of sports.” 
D.T. Slouffman Emmy-Winning Producer/Director Adjunct Television Professor Asbury University, School of Communications Arts "Doug Wilson’s memoir of a well-lived television life brings a globetrotters’ vision and a suitcase full of television tales to my Sports Storytelling class. Wilson’s anecdotes and remembrances are valuable teaching tools that offer students a firsthand look at the possibilities before them. The World Was Our Stage provides examples of the critical thinking necessary to make things happen in the field and highlights the importance of connecting with one’s protagonists and their stories despite the ever-changing television landscape.” 
Lesley Visser Hall of Fame Sportscaster "Everything America knows or loves about figure skating comes from the eyes and heart of Doug Wilson. It was a privilege to work with him.”
"Wilson’s new memoir, The World Was Our Stage: Spanning the Globe with ABC Sports, is a loving tribute to that halcyon, golden age of sports directing, and a fascinating behind-the-scenes account of what it was like to bring viewers “the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat,” week in, week out." 
Stephen H. Case Author "I loved every page of The World Was Our Stage! Getting the benefit of Doug Wilson’s beautifully written, backstage view of all the goings on not only brought back many, many cheerful recollections of Wide World of Sports, but it expanded my comprehension of what these guys did and how they did it (amazing ingenuity and imagination!). |
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