Friday evening Hoyt Purvis introduced his book “Voices of the Razorbacks: A history of Arkansas’s iconic sports broadcasters” at the Nightbird Books store on Dickson Street. Purvis is a teacher at the University of Arkansas and is an Arkansas native along with his co-author, Stanley Sharp. Purvis has gained a respectable reputation among the students and faculty at the University of Arkansas and has been employed there since 1982. Sharp is also familiar with the UofA having graduated in 2009 with a Master’s in Journalism.
Many students attended the event, along with Purvis’s wife, and other onlookers. However, Stanley Sharp was unable to accompany Purvis due to traveling. Purvis stood at a podium and discussed the history and idea of writing the book. Following Purvis’s presentation, he was available for photographs and a book signing. This was the first time the book had been introduced in Fayetteville, but Purvis and Sharp have done previous talks over their book in Little Rock and Fort Smith. Purvis considered writing the book after Paul Eells’s death in 2006. Once Purvis and Sharp fully committed to the project it took about three years to complete.