The man who coined the term “Hilton Magic” is coming back to Ames.

Buck Turnbull, former sportswriter for The Des Moines Register, will be visiting Big Table Books tonight to present a reading of his book From the Press Box: The Iowa Sports Scene.

From the Press Box is a collection of his favorite columns about the biggest stories of his career: three trips to the Rose Bowl with Hayden Fry, heartbreak at the Final Four basketball championship, and, of course, Hilton Magic with the Cyclones.

Turnbull decided to compile his favorite articles and interviews into a book shortly after retiring.

His first official “retirement project” required more work than originally planned.

“I thought it would be easy to find the columns I wanted,” Turnbull said. “But I didn’t know how difficult it would be to locate everything for a book. It was hard work.”

The months of research were worth it to Turnbull. “It was important to me to save these stories for posterity, and I think others will enjoy them,” he said.

Unfortunately, all of this book work took time away from his golf game.

“Once the book was done, I had more time for my family and for golf,” Turnbull said. “I would recommend retirement for everyone.”

Turnbull will be at Big Table Books tonight at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.