Speech professor co-authors Spiezio memoir
What started as a chance connection turned into an Amazon bestseller and a spot behind the scenes of a documentary for San Jacinto College speech instructor Lesley Butcher.
She recently co-authored “The Hardest Comeback: A Memoir” about former MLB champion Scott Spiezio and served as assistant producer on the documentary telling his story.
“We were connected through someone who had attended a nonprofit training I had done,” Butcher said. “They introduced us knowing I had ghostwritten a few books in the past.”
Beyond the page
While Butcher was deciding whether to write the book, a friend finishing a master’s in TV/film production was looking for a subject for her capstone project.
“I mentioned the connection to this former MLB champion, and we both felt like the story would be incredible to put together,” Butcher said. “Getting to connect people in the process and work on interview questions that would help show the story arc was incredible.”
Butcher served as assistant producer on the resulting documentary while also helping bring Spiezio’s story to life in book form. The book went on to reach Amazon bestseller status.
“To see it reach bestseller status was honestly humbling and also a huge relief,” Butcher said. “There’s a lot of pressure when writing someone else’s story to do it justice, and I wanted to make sure it was told authentic to him and told well.”
Book signing, screening, Q&A
On Oct. 2, a meet-and-greet was held at the Marie Spence Flickinger Fine Arts Center at the South Campus for a book signing with Butcher and Spiezio. Following a screening of the documentary, audience members participated in a Q&A with Spiezio and the film’s director, Shelby Kimpel.
Butcher has spent a lot of time studying and training on the importance of storytelling at the College.
“This was a chance for me to dive into trusting what I’ve learned and actually being a part of telling a story on a much larger stage,” she said. “You don’t have to be a baseball fan to come out and enjoy this event. It’s a story of success and collapse and redemption and one I think will inspire so many people.”
About San Jacinto College Surrounded by monuments of history, evolving industries, maritime enterprises of today,
and the space age of tomorrow, San Jacinto College has served the people of East Harris
County, Texas, since 1961. The College is ranked second in the nation among more than
1,100 community colleges, as designated by the Aspen Institute and was named an Achieving
the Dream Leader College of Distinction in 2020 and 2026. As a Hispanic-Serving Institution
that spans five campuses, plus an online college, San Jacinto College serves approximately
45,000 credit and non-credit students annually. It offers more than 200 degrees and
certificates across eight major areas of study that put students on a path to transfer
to four-year institutions or enter the workforce. The College is fiscally sound, holding
bond ratings of AA+ by Standard & Poor’s and Aa2 by Moody’s. San Jacinto College is
accredited by the The Commission on Colleges and Universities.
