Preorder Books HERE

HAMILTON – Fred "Tiger" Dunlap '81 has written The Dunlap Rules, a 460-page book about his parents, Fred '50 and Marilyn Dunlap, and their unique impact on the lives of so many. A book signing is planned for the Colgate Bookstore on Nov. 14 in conjunction with Colgate's home football game against Lehigh.

The book is available for pre-sale now by clicking HERE. All preordered books must be picked up in Hamilton on Nov. 14 in conjunction with Colgate football game against Lehigh. For those unable to make it to Hamilton on Nov. 14, the book will be available for sale on GoColgateRaiders.com beginning Nov. 16.
 
Tiger Dunlap visited with GoColgateRaiders.com to give a few insights into the book.
 
Q: What is the topic of the book?
 
"I decided to write a book earlier this year about my parents, who are 85 and 87 years old. They've been phenomenal mentors to me over the years and from my mother and father's 'coaching' – not just football coaching but life coaching – I've learned so many things. Their approaches were the basis for how I ran my life and the decisions I made both personally and professionally. The book is written in a vignette style, with each chapter being a separate story. The book begins at the time when they were college kids. The vignettes weave back and forth between personal and professional (football) stories. The book talks a little bit about their life before football, then also progresses through Dad's time when he was coaching at Lehigh and then at Colgate. The book then covers some of my own adult experiences, examining how I took what I learned from them and applied it in my life.
 
"The lessons learned for me as a kid growing up in that environment were both from watching his performance as a coach but also from the things that were instilled from a family perspective. My parents led by example, exhibiting approaches and methods of leading and managing and dealing with conflict, whether it be personal conflicts or professional conflicts. And those lessons were instilled in me growing up and as I watched how my parents navigated their world.
 
"The book hits on a lot of different themes. It focuses on leadership and management, but it also hits on parenting and just dealing with stresses and conflicts that are posed to people in their lives. The prevailing theme, however, is showing how my parents' methods, which were applied in a sports environment, could also be effectively transferred to the business world, where I made my career."
 

Q: How did you get the idea to write this book?
 
"I'll tell you the day the lightbulb went off was Dec. 26. My parents were down with us for Christmas and Dad was sitting with my wife and me and talking about some stories from the past as we always did. That's kind of a Dunlap tradition during the holidays to revisit stories and assess things from the past. And as I listened to him that morning, a lightbulb went off to me that the bigger story of 'Marilyn and Fred' had to be told. My lovely wife has been so patient this year because, since that day, I've put more than 2,000 hours into the book project over an eight-month period.
 
"But it was worth it, because I wanted very much to get it done and I wanted to have it be deliverable during football season if possible, which we're going to accomplish."

Q: Is this something you've wanted to do for many years?
 
"Well, I was an English major at Colgate. I went through Colgate and fashioned myself at one point to be a writer. Though I did choose a career in business, I've always had a strong love for writing. It's served me well as a businessman from a standpoint of communication skills, whether written or giving speeches or when leading organizations. And all the while I was working in business, I had always wanted to get back into writing. Now that my working career is over, I am doing just that.
 
"As for why I wrote this book, the inspiration came from Mom and Dad. My parents have been great people. I owe so much to them and there are so many people around them who feel the same way, and I just thought this is a great story that needs to be told.
 
"I have circulated the final manuscript to about three dozen people so far, all of whom know my parents. Everybody's impression, so far, of this book is different to a person. Some are fascinated with learning things about my parents that they didn't know, despite the fact that they've been so close to them over the years. Others have keyed on certain themes. But all have commented on the commonality between sports and business, both areas where my parents' methods were effective.
 
"But more than anything, this book is a tribute to my parents as people who touched a lot of people because they're giving people."
  

Q: Have you written a book before or is this your first?
 
"This is the first that I've actually published. I've written several other ones, a number of other books that are partially complete. I have four other projects going on right now. Two of them are non-fiction and the other two are fiction. The fictional books are easy to write because you don't have to do as much research and don't have to worry about hurting anybody's feelings. I decided to set those projects aside last December, so I could focus fully on writing the book about my parents. Writing about my parents was easy — they are sensational people and it was easy to write a positive message about people who truly deserve it.
 
"Aside from these other book projects, I've also been writing an informal blog or newsletter over the last two years about investments. I invest on a macro basis, so I do a fair amount of research on the economy, studying the variety of factors that impact it positively or negatively. Two years ago I started sharing my views via an informal blog. At first, there were only a handful of people who read it and joined my investment group. Over time, by word of mouth, the group has grown to more than 150 people. I write an updated newsletter to my investment group about every two weeks. I use a totally different writing style for it than I do for my books, a mix of humor and technical information. As I said, I have been writing the newsletter for a couple of years now, and the group is having a great time with it."
 
Q: What messages are you trying to relay to your readers?
 
"The answer to that question would vary by the audience. As I mentioned, the book is about management and leadership, but also about parenting and dealing with life's challenges. So depending on each reader's orientation, certain themes and sections may resonate more than others.
 
"Given my parents' affiliation with Colgate and Lehigh, undoubtedly there would be interest from alums, current students, faculty and friends of both universities who either know my parents or have a strong connection with the schools.
 
"So I think at Colgate, the audience that would have an appetite for this would be anyone associated with athletics, football certainly, but also other people in the Hamilton community who have been closely affiliated with the university and know my parents very well. With the broader alumni, there's a lot that resonates here too, particularly for those who were positively impacted by my parents, as I was.
 
"Vicky Chun commented to me when I met with her in August. She had read the book and said, 'This book is not just about your parents, Tiger. It's about the environment of Colgate University. It's about going to a school that regards academic excellence and athletic excellence and puts a demand on a high-quality student to deliver on both fronts. It's small college athletics with high aspirations.'
 
"Vicky has it right."
 
Q: Did you learn things about your parents that you didn't know before writing this book?
 
"Probably not. My parents have been very transparent with me over the years. I did speak to them repeatedly during the project, just to be sure that I got the facts correct. But most of the story was written from memory, which made it possible for me to bang it all out in only 90 days."
 
Q: Was this a project of love for you and was it more or less work than you anticipated?
 
"Yes, this was a labor of love, no matter how big a project it might have become. I would say writing it was exactly the size of job I thought it would be. The editing process, however, was more excruciating than I expected -- everything gets analyzed and debated in the editing process with the goal of refining the story. It's worth doing, but the process is very taxing to the writer. The editor I used is also a writer. He wrote the biographies for Jack Nicklaus, Larry Bird, Mike Tyson and Pete Dye, the golf-course designer. He's written and published 28 books of his own and he's served as the editor for more than 300 other books. So I was very blessed to work with a real pro. He gave my book very, very high praise, which I admit was a nice surprise to me, given his expertise in the field. He's become my biggest fan and is currently pursuing traditional publishers on my behalf for a broader release of this book. If that happens, it would be flattering and delightful, but it's not the reason I wrote the book.
 
"I wrote it for two people, my parents, and a few other people who are close to them. If it has broader appeal and it goes broader and bigger, that's icing on the cake. But if it doesn't, I'm OK with that too, because getting a finished copy in my parents' hands was the primary goal. And that mission has been accomplished."
 
Q: How have your parents reacted to your idea for the book and then the way the book has turned out?
 
"They were shocked and overwhelmed by it. They're a humble-at-their-core kind of people, and they're soft-spoken and very positive by nature. When I told them what I was planning to do, they were thunderstruck that anyone would do such a thing as write a book like that and even more so that it would be their kid doing it. As I made progress and shared segments with them, their excitement continued to grow. Since receiving the final manuscript, they have read the book cover-to-cover five times. And Mom keeps prodding Dad to read it to her again."
 
Q: Will you hold a book signing in Hamilton?
 
"Yes, we are having a book signing at the Lehigh game on Nov. 14. It will be at the Colgate Bookstore the morning of the game, and then after the game in Sanford Field House. We are also having a similar event on the following Saturday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for the 'Lehigh audience' at the Lehigh-Lafayette game."

Preorder Information for The Dunlap Rules
 

• Preorders available HERE through Nov. 11, 2015.
• All books sold during preorder are $35 and must be picked up at either of the two Nov. 14 book signing/meet-and-greet events (pregame at Colgate Bookstore; postgame at Sanford Field House).
• Preordered books will not be shipped.
• Preordered books will be signed by Tiger, Fred and Marilyn Dunlap.
• Buyers can provide customization for signing.
• Books also can be purchased in person Nov. 14 at Colgate Bookstore.
• All proceeds benefit the Colgate Department of Athletics.