Steve Bialostok with Keith Ball Live at Tattered Cover Colfax

About This Event

Join us for an inspiring conversation with local author Steve Bialostok and with Keith Ball, the Director of Recreation for the City and County of Denver, Parks and Recreation as we discuss his book Playing to the End: Elder Black Men, Placemaking, and Dominoes in Denver on Monday, April 13th at 6:00 PM at our Colfax location. Registration includes the following options: A signed Paperback copy of the book … OR A $5 Gift Card to Tattered Cover Book Store We will have a limited supply of additional books for guests to purchase in store. Only a book ticket guarantees you a copy of the book. If you are unable to attend the event after purchasing a ticket, you are required to pick up your copy of the book (with proof of purchase from your event registration) within 7 days after the event date. If the book is not picked up by that date, you relinquish your copy to Tattered Cover Book Store. ABOUT THE BOOK In Playing to the End, Steve Bialostok immerses readers in the vibrant world of the card room at Denver’s Hiawatha Davis Jr. Recreation Center, where a group of older Black men gather to play dominoes, exchange playful banter known as “talking shit,” and cultivate a space of belonging. More than just a game, their gatherings are acts of Black placemaking—resisting cultural erasure, gentrification, and societal marginalization while fostering joy, resilience, and community. Through five years of ethnographic study, Bialostok reveals how these men transform the card room into a sanctuary of identity and defiance, where humor and camaraderie become tools of self-determination. As they navigate the pressures of a changing neighborhood, their interactions affirm the power of play, talk, and collective memory in sustaining Black spaces. Playing to the End is a compelling testament to the significance of these gatherings and the ongoing struggle for autonomy, cultural affirmation, and social connection in an inequitable world. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Steve Bialostok is an educational and linguistic anthropologist by training. His research typically engages discourse analysis with social theory (mostly Foucault, Bourdieu), combining analysis of linguistic practices with ethnographic research oriented to theoretical debates about power, identity, and inequality. He has published on schooling, neoliberalisim, and late modern capitalism. His research has brought him to the Wind River Reservation as well as Afghanistan. His current five -year ethnography in Denver investigates a group of elderly Black men who have played dominoes together for decades, in a historically Black neighborhood that is undergoing gentrification. ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER Keith is a native of Tulsa, OK, and has been a resident of Denver for 35 years. He has resided in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood since arriving. In his professional career Keith has combined experiences in youth services, ministry, corporate retail, professional tennis, and his current work in Parks & Recreation, where he serves as Director of Recreation for the City and County of Denver, Parks and Recreation. Keith has been an advocate for safe and thriving communities where residents from all experiences can benefit from the resources and services that promote healthy lifestyles through equitable access. Keith describes himself as a lover of recreation and a lover of those who love themselves.