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PunkinPi

(4,997 posts)
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 07:28 AM Jul 2021

So, they're making a limited series about my great-aunt, Effa Manley

Limited Series About “Queen Of The Negro Leagues” Effa Manley In Works By Alcon; Anya Adams To Direct

EXCLUSIVE: The remarkable story of Effa Manley, the first and to-date only woman to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, is headed to the screen.

Alcon Television Group has acquired the rights to baseball historian James Overmyer’s praised non-fiction novel Queen of the Negro Leagues: Effa Manley and the Newark Eagles. The company also has picked up the rights to Byron Motley (The Negro Baseball Leagues) and Jeffrey Miiller’s adaption of the material to use both as source material for a limited TV series titled The Eagles of Newark. Anya Adams (Black-ish, GLOW, Ginny & Georgia) is attached to direct the pilot. Search is underway for a showrunner. The producers also may attach on-screen talent before taking the project out.

The limited series will chronicle the dramatic efforts by tenacious civil rights activist Effa Manley and her husband Abe as they embark upon a risky business venture – starting their own ball club, the Newark Eagles, in the raucous world of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Effa Manley served as the team’s business manager.

“Effa Manley was a trailblazing woman and the passion she brought to everything she became involved in is deeply admirable to us,” said Alcon Television Group Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove. “We are thrilled at the opportunity to bring her historic story to life.”

Source, and more here -> https://deadline.com/2021/07/limited-series-queen-of-the-negro-leagues-novel-alcon-television-group-anya-adams-direct-1234783694/


I can't tell you how excited I am!!!
32 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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So, they're making a limited series about my great-aunt, Effa Manley (Original Post) PunkinPi Jul 2021 OP
Wow DownriverDem Jul 2021 #1
I'm not sure where one will be able to see it yet, but I'll post it when I find out. PunkinPi Jul 2021 #2
Yes, please do let us know. lark Jul 2021 #5
Will do. I know several years ago there had been talk of Penny Marshall directing a biopic about... PunkinPi Jul 2021 #8
K&R The Polack MSgt Jul 2021 #3
Thanks! nt PunkinPi Jul 2021 #4
Fantastic! Richluu Jul 2021 #6
Thank you, me too! nt PunkinPi Jul 2021 #9
Awesome! Delmette2.0 Jul 2021 #7
I had never heard of this before - thanks for alerting us. jmbar2 Jul 2021 #10
👍🏽 blm Jul 2021 #11
Awesome! sarchasm Jul 2021 #12
That is so kewl! ananda Jul 2021 #13
You got good genes Oppaloopa Jul 2021 #14
Recommended. H2O Man Jul 2021 #15
Fabulous malaise Jul 2021 #16
Hey, malaise and thanks! PunkinPi Jul 2021 #19
I'm thrilled for you malaise Jul 2021 #20
Thanks very much -- it feels very surreal. Wish my dad could have been here for this. PunkinPi Jul 2021 #22
For real but you'll celebrate for him malaise Jul 2021 #23
I absolutely will do! PunkinPi Jul 2021 #25
Wow bucolic_frolic Jul 2021 #17
Yes, she is my dad's maternal aunt. And he did in fact know her and I believe he lived with her... PunkinPi Jul 2021 #18
Way cool! 3catwoman3 Jul 2021 #21
Awesome! IrishAfricanAmerican Jul 2021 #24
Very cool! There's a picture book biography of her, too! intheflow Jul 2021 #26
Thanks for sharing. I had seen this book, but haven't read/purchased it yet. PunkinPi Jul 2021 #27
I'm excited, too!!! Karadeniz Jul 2021 #28
Wow! burrowowl Jul 2021 #29
Great! K&R reACTIONary Jul 2021 #30
K&r. 👍👍👍 Demovictory9 Jul 2021 #31
This is awesome! djm5971 Aug 2021 #32

PunkinPi

(4,997 posts)
2. I'm not sure where one will be able to see it yet, but I'll post it when I find out.
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 08:01 AM
Jul 2021

I had been contacted by both Bob Luke (who wrote "The Most Famous Woman in Baseball: Effa Manley and the Negro Leagues" ) and Jim Overmyer regarding some details about Effa over the course of the last decade. Jim had mentioned there may be a film/series in the works and I'm so grateful to actually see it come to fruition.

lark

(24,088 posts)
5. Yes, please do let us know.
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 09:30 AM
Jul 2021

This sounds like an interesting piece about a fascinating woman, with some neat sports history included.

PunkinPi

(4,997 posts)
8. Will do. I know several years ago there had been talk of Penny Marshall directing a biopic about...
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 09:44 AM
Jul 2021

her, but sadly after Penny passed I wasn't sure that there was going to be anything.

jmbar2

(6,034 posts)
10. I had never heard of this before - thanks for alerting us.
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 09:46 AM
Jul 2021

She sounds like a fascinating character. Can't wait to see it.

bucolic_frolic

(46,713 posts)
17. Wow
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 10:19 AM
Jul 2021

Great aunt would be sister of a grandparent, I think. Great aunts and uncles sound like someone far removed in the distant past, but often parents hung out with them, saw them at family occasions, were raised or babysat by them.

Digging deep we often know a lot about them! And their names are searchable on US census data, which can tell us where they lived, who their neighbors were. I discovered a 160 years ago g-g-g grandfather who lived beside a couple of the same occupation. We were confused by a nickname for a child of his ... until it matched the neigbor's wife.

PunkinPi

(4,997 posts)
18. Yes, she is my dad's maternal aunt. And he did in fact know her and I believe he lived with her...
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 10:32 AM
Jul 2021

for a time as a kid. I never met her (I was about 4 yo when she passed), and I never met my grandparents (on either side), but I did meet one of her sisters (another great aunt to me).

My dad had nothing but the utmost admiration for her and he enjoyed talking about her. The only thing that makes me sad is that he isn't here to see this.

Ancestry is so interesting, and like you said, they can seem far removed, but not so in reality.

intheflow

(28,873 posts)
26. Very cool! There's a picture book biography of her, too!
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 01:29 PM
Jul 2021

I'm a children's librarian and we have your aunt's biography. It's wonderful and I've read it to many children in storytimes over the years.


She loved baseball: the Effa Manley story
by Audrey Vernick

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7889493-she-loved-baseball?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=iX1pbKlFLg&rank=1

PunkinPi

(4,997 posts)
27. Thanks for sharing. I had seen this book, but haven't read/purchased it yet.
Tue Jul 13, 2021, 02:40 PM
Jul 2021

I appreciate you passing her story along to the kids.

djm5971

(109 posts)
32. This is awesome!
Mon Aug 9, 2021, 02:18 PM
Aug 2021

I've read about the Negro Leagues and seen a couple of movies (For the Soul of the Game is great) so I'm aware of Effa Manley's role. I can't wait for this to come out!

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