Legendary Coach Vince Dooley’s love for the University of Georgia spills onto every page of his new book, “History and Reminiscences of the University of Georgia.”
 A serious student of history who earned his master’s degree in the subject while working as an assistant coach at Auburn University, Dooley tells the Georgia story from its beginnings in the earliest days of our nation (1785) up to the present day – often with a personal anecdote.
Dooley will be in Statesboro for a book signing Tuesday from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Main Office of Sea Island Bank at 2 East Main St.
“We’re delighted to have Coach Dooley in Statesboro,” said Bruce Yawn, a former player under Dooley who started at left guard for the Bulldogs’ 1968 SEC championship team. “There are many Georgia graduates and Bulldog fans in this area so we are pleased they will have an opportunity to meet Coach Dooley and have a book signed by a legend.”
Yawn, who serves as chairman of the board of directors at Sea Island Bank, recently “retired” from his restaurant business with the closing of Snooky’s.
“I have the greatest respect for Coach Dooley. We have remained good friends over the years and it’s always a pleasure to have him visit Statesboro. Under Coach Dooley’s leadership, as head football coach and athletics director, he really built the University of Georgia’s program into one of the best in America.
"If he had not become involved in athletics, I feel sure Coach Dooley would have been Professor Dooley doing what he truly loves -- sharing and teaching history. He hasn't slowed down one bit. That's just his personality," Yawn said.
Renowned artist Steve Penley adds paintings and drawings of the UGA campus and historic figures to complete presentation. Dooley and Penley’s third collaboration, the 160-
page book is 10 by 12 inches in size. It is published by Looking Glass Books of Decatur, Ga., and distributed by John F. Blair, Publisher, of Winston-Salem, N.C.
“Vince Dooley and the University of Georgia are inseparable,” says Stan Deaton, PhD, Senior Historian, The Georgia Historical Society, “and in telling the story of the university’s history, he explores his own past as well. This book is the story of a great university, but it’s also part autobiography, and all of it is fascinating.
"It’s all here, too, from Abraham Baldwin to Michael Adams, and Coach Dooley pulls no punches," Deaton said. "Like all good historians, he doesn’t just recite facts, he interprets and analyzes the past, giving us a history of the university and its people that is like life itself, lived day by day: rich and complex,good and bad, tragic and inspiring, not always easily understood.”
History and Reminiscences of the University of Georgia will be available for purchase at the book signing.