Brad Balukjian
Brad Balukjian (born October 16, 1980) is an American writer and science professor. He is best known for his memoir The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife.
Background[edit]
Balukjian grew up in Greenville, Rhode Island. He went to college at Duke University, where he graduated in 2002, and got his PhD in Environmental Science, Policy and Management from UC, Berkeley.
He teaches natural history at Merritt College in Oakland, California, where he founded the Natural History & Sustainability program.
Career[edit]
In 2015, Balukjian opened a pack of unopened baseball cards from 1986 and decided to track down all of the players inside.[1][2] His journey became the memoir The Wax Pack (2020),[3] which went on to become a Los Angeles Times bestseller.[4]
Balukjian said his book was rejected by 38 publishers before the University of Nebraska Press offered him a contract.[5][6]
Balukjian is a freelance writer for The Smithsonian, Alta Online, and other publications. His work includes a science piece about earwig penises for The Smithsonian[7] and decoding the science of the stolen base.[8]
Balukjian's second book, The Six Pack, explores the where are they now story of former WWE wrestlers.[9]
References[edit]
- ^ Wong, Wong (September 9, 2015). "Wax Pack: One Man's Road Trip to Track down Every Player from a Pack of Baseball Cards". Vice. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08.
- ^ Wittenmyer, Gordon (May 27, 2020). "How a random pack of old baseball cards made the LA Times bestseller list". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on 2020-06-08.
- ^ "'The Wax Pack' chronicles baseball card-fueled road trip". USA Today. May 2, 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-05-03.
- ^ The California Independent Booksellers Alliance (May 18, 2020). "Best Sellers List Sun., May 17, 2020". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2020-05-19.
- ^ Finn, Chad (May 22, 2020). "Brad Balukjian's baseball book was rejected 38 times. How he finally brought 'The Wax Pack' to life". Boston.com. Archived from the original on 2020-05-30.
- ^ Anderson, RJ (May 20, 2020). "Author of 'The Wax Pack' discusses his card-based journey and the search for baseball's afterlife". CBS Sports.
- ^ Balukjian, Brad. "Half of These Earwigs Use Their Right Penis. The Other Half Use Their Left Penis. Why?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- ^ Balukjian, Brad. "Breaking Down the Science of the Stolen Base". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-12-05.
- ^ DeAngelo, Dominic (2022-11-16). "Eric Bischoff Talks New Book Grateful, Tony Khan's Handling Of Brawl Out, CM Punk's Value & More - Exclusive". Wrestling Inc. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
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