Immaculate Reception bore author's awe of Franco Harris
By Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Book Editor
February 01, 2003

There are some Pittsburghers who are tired of watching the replays of Franco Harris' Immaculate Reception — which was 30 years ago, by the way. But, for others, the game-winning play remains a pivotal moment in their lives, including for a 9-year-old boy growing up a long way from Three Rivers Stadium, near Albany, N.Y. Stephen J. Dubner saw the game on his family's black-and-white TV set, and Harris' play gave him a joy that he "hadn't known to exist. I couldn't have articulated my joy then. I don't know if I can now."

Dubner, now 39, comes face to face with his longtime affection for Harris in "Confessions of a Hero-Worshiper" (Morrow, $24.95), a story that's part memoir and part reflection on our need to have heroes in our life. "My father had a strange rule," said Dubner recently in explaining how a New York kid followed the Steelers. "He said no two kids could root for the same team." (Dubner was one of eight children.)

"I loved the story of the Chief, Art Rooney, and his 40 years of a losing team. He was a Damon Runyon character — a salty Irishman who went to Mass every day. That's how I picked the Steelers." Dubner also embraced the image of Harris, an enigmatic character who rejected the lifestyle of a well-paid athlete.

"Franco didn't own a car when he first came to Pittsburgh," said Dubner. "I loved the idea of him riding the bus. Franco marched to his own drummer. He didn't let anyone get a bead on him." Dubner's hero-worshipping continued through careers as a rock musician and an editor for the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His first book, "Turbulent Souls," the story of his family, briefly touched on his dedication to Harris. "But, I felt as if I couldn't put a lid on my childhood until I had actually communed with Franco," Dubner said.