Chip Hilton
William "Chip" Hilton is the central character in a series of 24 sports novels for adolescent boys written by the successful college basketball coach and 1968 Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Clair Bee (1896–1983). In addition to Bee's authorship of the Chip Hilton series, he was also the author of several basketball and coaching technique books. The Chip Hilton series was published between 1948 and 1965 by Grosset & Dunlap, with Bee's last manuscript, Fiery Fullback, published in 2002.
The series hero excels in football, basketball and baseball, and is often placed in the position of persuading his less-than-perfect teammates to play his way and share his values—with winning championships being the result. Stories have two or three subplots, sometimes unrelated to sports, and one title is distinguished for tackling racism. The Chip Hilton books sold 2.2 million copies, and, in 1997, the NCAA founded the Chip Hilton Player of the Year Award.
In the late 1990s, the series was re-issued by a Nashville religious book publishing house with the co-operation of Bee's children. The re-issue caused a furor among fans and purists with its politically correct update and its down-home Christian evangelical flavor. The original series is highly collectible, with some titles being worth hundreds of dollars.
Read more about Chip Hilton: Characterization, Plot Structure, Series Re-issue, Collectibles, List of Titles, Spin-offs
Famous quotes containing the words chip and/or hilton:
“Look Johnny, Spig just joined the Navy. I’m married to it. I run the mess hall. I swab the deck. I chip the rust. You’re afraid that they’ll kick Spig out of the Navy. I’m afraid that they won’t.”
—Frank Fenton, William Wister Haines, co-scenarist, and John Ford. Minne Wead (Maureen O’Hara)
“The acorn’s not yet
Fallen from the tree
That’s to grow the wood,
That’s to make the cradle,
That’s to rock the bairn,
That’s to grow a man,
That’s to lay me.”
—Unknown. The Cauld Lad of Hilton or, The Wandering Spectre (l. 2–8)