GREAT SOUTHEAST BOOK FESTIVAL HONORS CHRONICLE OF A LEGENDARY FOOTBALL TEAM

The story of an undefeated football team that sparked the South’s interest in the sport at the close of the 19th century is the top book in the 2025 Great Southeast Book Festival, which honors the best of the late winter/early spring.

Authors Norman Jetmundsen and Karin Dupree Fecteau's Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899 (Shakerag Hollow Press) tells of one of the greatest seasons in college football history. The Sewanee Tigers played a schedule of 12 games in a six-week period, with nine games on the road, traveling 2,500 miles by steam locomotive and playing five games in six days, winning all of them by shutout. Sewanee went undefeated, and at the end of the season, the team had scored 227 points to its opponents' 10.

The team included a 20-year old manager, the players known as the Iron Men, and two African-American trainers who traveled with the squad. The book has an accompanying film documentary and details a much more violent game that had no passes, huddles, scant protective gear, and no substitutions.

The book is a fine tribute to the early days of college football and tells a compelling story of an important moment in the sport’s development that will likely never be matched.

Other winners in the competition:


GENERAL FICTION:

WINNER: Descending Thirds - Nicole Conn

RUNNERS-UP:

• Northfield Saga 4: Storm Break - Calvin B. Fisher
• The Name I Choose - Holly Brough
• Fool’s Gold Folly - J.D.R. Hawkins
• A Soldier’s Burden - Natia Khaduri
   

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• The Day The Birds Came Calling - Dr. Linda Roberts-Betsch
• One Legged Uncle Jesse - Mike Morris
• The Price of a Future - Jackie Ross Flaum
• When Angels Learn to Fly - Peter Stewart
• Sniff - G.C. Brown

HISTORY:

WINNER: Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899 - Norman Jetmundsen and  Karin Dupree Fecteau

RUNNER-UP: Cold War Virginia - Francis Gary Powers Jr. and Chris Sturdevant

HONORABLE MENTION:

• Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads - S.R. Mallery

YOUNG ADULT:

WINNER: The Third Estate Secrets of the Manor - D.R. Berlin

RUNNER-UP: The Lost Worlds Book One - Esteban Vazquez

UNPUBLISHED: WINNER: Real Life Real Laughs - Cate Burns


MEMOIR:

WINNER: Geri o Shimasu - Alia Luria


CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

WINNER: The Tale of Little Bit - Linda Hickam, Jan Philpot

RUNNER-UP: A Kindergarten Story - Tammy Donahue

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Polka Dots and Tater Tots - Melinda Chambers
• Popcorn the Squirrel - Rusty McQuade

REGIONAL LIT:

WINNER: Revelation on the Sea Island - Nancy Flinchbaugh


COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:

WINNER: Island to Icon - Dreama Denver


GENERAL NON FICTION:

WINNER: This is How We Heal From Painful Childhoods - Ernest Ellender, PhD

RUNNER-UP: Lines of Life Run Through the Mountains - Thelma J. Flynn

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Mission Out of Control - Dr. Charles Mamarda
• Why Not? - Teri Leigh Rouse

BUSINESS:

WINNER: The Invisible Industry - Bob McGlincy/Larry Kulchawik


ROMANCE:

WINNER: A Perfect Miracle - Katrina Alexander


SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS:

WINNER: Legacy - Christopher Morehouse