A Curmudgeon's Story: Bob Drum

Bob Drum & Arnold Palmer

“A Curmudgeon’s Story” is a fictional account based on the authors father, Bob Drum, an enthralling novel chronicling the extraordinary journey of Bob Drum—future Hall of Fame golf writer—from his Irish American roots in 1800s Brooklyn, New York, to present-day Pinehurst, NC, the Home of American Golf.

Raised in a family steeped in Irish tradition and a proud legacy of New York police service, Bob’s youth was defined by basketball on Brooklyn playgrounds. His talent earned him a scholarship to the University of Alabama, where he became an All-American athlete. However, World War II intervened, calling him to serve in the Air Force and forcing him to set aside his sports dreams.

Returning from the war at a crossroads, Bob took his stepfather Howard Morris’s advice and accepted a job at the Pittsburgh Press. Reluctantly leaving New York for the Steel City, he found himself assigned to a sport no one else wanted: golf. That twist of fate shifted his story from urban playgrounds to smoky press boxes, from steel mills to

green fairways.

In Pittsburgh, he forged a close friendship with Art Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and met US Steel executive secretary Marian Jane Schaub at a sportswriters’ haunt, The Travel Bar. Marian—of German immigrant heritage from Troy Hill and later Mrs. Pennsylvania—would become his wife and the matriarch of their five children.

Covering golf soon put Bob in the path of greatness. At the Western Pennsylvania Junior Tournament, he became one of the first to write about a 14-year-old prodigy named Arnold Palmer. Sensing destiny, Bob boldly declared Palmer would one day be the best golfer in the world—a prediction his colleagues scoffed at, but one that proved prophetic.

Palmer would not only become the game’s greatest; he and Bob would together create golf’s holy grail: the Professional Grand Slam.

Over the decades, Bob would serve as president of the Golf Writers Association of

America, earn an Emmy nomination with CBS, and cement his place in sports history.

Told through the voice of his son Kevin, A Curmudgeon’s Story is more than a biography—it’s a tapestry of the golden age of sports writing, spanning the 1950s to the 1980s. It captures the triumphs, challenges, hilarious misadventures, and enduring friendship between Bob Drum and Arnold Palmer, all set against the demanding lifestyle

of a traveling sportswriter armed only with a manual typewriter and Western Union.

This is a story of resilience, humor, faith, and destiny—one that celebrates the human spirit and the legacy of those who dare to dream big. While Kevin set out to tell his father’s story, he discovered it is equally his own, woven with shared convictions, parallel journeys, and the timeless belief that fate favors the bold.

About the Author

Kevin Drum grew up immersed in the world of sports writing royalty. The youngest son of famed golf writer Bob Drum and former Mrs. Pennsylvania, Marian Jane Schaub, Kevin was raised in a home where press passes, and locker room stories were part of everyday life.

From a young age, Kevin had a front-row seat to legendary athletes, unforgettable events, and the colorful personalities who shaped the golden era of sports. Hew was a professional Public Relations and Marketing writer ghost writing copy for some of the top tourism and golf and sports brands in the world.

In seeking to better understand himself, Kevin turned to the people, places, and history that shaped his parents—a tapestry woven with New York grit, Pittsburgh steel, and Pinehurst grace. His storytelling blends memory, history, and imagination, allowing him to narrate as both son and observer. Through fiction, he brings readers into the life of an

old-school sportswriter, where rich characters, iconic moments, sports and golf history are seamlessly interlaced.

Kevin’s voice offers not just a chronicle of his father’s extraordinary journey, but also a reflection of his own. In “A Curmudgeon’s Story”, the line between past and present blurs, revealing shared values of faith, destiny, and belief that

every life is a story worth telling-especially when lived with wit, grit, love for the game of golf and its characters.