SALEM, Mass. - J.D. Scrimgeour and Jay Atkinson, professors of English and Creative Writing at Salem State College, recently published two books that reflect the role of sports in American culture.

Scrimgeour's Spin Moves is a non-fiction, narrative exploration of life and basketball. Published by Pecan Grove Press, the book details the evolving role of basketball in the author's life, its role in the author's relationships with friends and strangers, and discusses the game's nuances as well.

Scrimgeour is an assistant professor and coordinator of the English Department's Creative Writing concentration at Salem State College. He lives in Salem with his wife and two sons.

Jay Atkinson, author of the critically acclaimed Caveman Politics, published his second book Ice Time in September. Published by Crown Publishers of New York, Ice Time is a story about fathers and sons and chronicles a season inside a New England town's high school hockey team. The book details the author's lifetime with hockey, from his own youth and time on the Methuen High varsity hockey team, to re-living his past as a volunteer assistant for that same team.

Novelist Harry Crews said of Ice Time, "Jay Atkinson, in only his second book, has taken himself over the top. For those who have played a sport, and - curiously - for those who never have, this ice-smooth prose will resonate in memory for a long time… Somewhere in this book, you will find your heart joyously broken."

Atkinson's writings have been published in many periodicals, including the New York Times and Boston Globe. A winner of Boston magazine's fiction contest and three-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize, Atkinson lives in Methuen.