Author Rafe Bartholomew

Harper’s Magazine assistant editor Rafe Bartholomew dissected the Philippines’ passion with basketball with his recently launched book “Pacific Rims.” With a Fulbright grant, Bartholomew took off for a country half-a-world away, learned tagalog, played streetball in flip-flops and went on the road with the Philippine professional team Alaska Aces. His book chronicles his exploration of basketball’s ties to Philippine society, how it got ingrained in the nation’s psyche and how it reaches beyond the hardcourt in entertainment, marketing and politics.

Interest in Bartholomew grew with his Youtube invite of his book reading in Barnes and Noble in New York last June 16, 2010. He touched the Filipino community with his personal invite in tagalog and their undying love for basketball.

Last August 3, 2010, Bartholomew brought in a large Filipino audience at Eastwind Books in Berkeley, California. He delighted the crowd with book excerpts, which told about his time being on a provincial roadtrip with the Alaska team, talking to Filipino professional basketball great Philip Cesar and tracing the allure of popular team Ginebra San Miguel and their charismatic playing coach Robert Jaworski.

For more information about “Pacific Rims”, visit http://rafebartholomew.com/pacific-rims


Rafe Bartholomew discusses the Ginebra mystique and the charisma of Robert Jaworski.