Author Warren St. John and Paul “Bear” Bryant

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Warren St. John is currently a reporter for the New York Times. He has also written extensively for The New Yorker, the New York Observer, and Wired. He went to Columbia University and lives in New York.

On October 17th, 1982, St. John visited the set of “The Bear Bryant Show.”

In Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer, he recalls the event:

“My father asked Bryant if he wouldn’t mind posing with me for a picture. Without so much as a word, the Bear put his arm around my shoulder and forced an unconvincing smile. We stood there in front of the Coca-Cola sign in this uncomfortable pose as my father fiddled with his camera, stalling in the hope that Bryant might loosen up. After forty-five nerve-fraying seconds, the Bear leaned over to me and thundered, “Son, I don’t think your father knows what the hell he’s doing.” We both laughed and in the photo that now hangs on my office wall we look like old cronies sharing an inside joke.”

You can reach the author at warren@rammerjammeryellowhammer.com