Lewis dives into Wall Street and home plate

Most Princeton students with an interest in Wall Street should be at least somewhat familiar with "Liar's Poker," a book that has entered the canon of finance literature. Most sports fans should also be familiar with "Moneyball," a book that has entered the lexicon of baseball.

What do those books have in common? Their author, Michael Lewis '82.

Lewis' career has taken many twists and turns, going from an AB in art history to a master's degree in economics from the London School of Economics — and then from a bond salesman to a writer.

"I thought I was going to be an art historian," Lewis said from his home in Berkeley, Calif.

A meeting with his senior thesis adviser, current art and archaeology professor William Childs, changed that.

"I was begging for a compliment," Lewis said, "and I asked, 'What did you think of the writing in the thesis?' And [Childs] said, 'I'll put it this way: Don't try to make a living out of it.' "

After that disheartening experience, Lewis didn't know in what direction his life was headed. As luck would have it, "Princeton's infamous distribution requirements" led Lewis to take Economics 101 and 102 (now Economics 100), courses in a field Lewis did not hold in high regard.

"I knew a bunch of people that were doing economics, and I remember them telling me they hated the stuff," Lewis said. "I thought that was a real waste of education."

But the course's professor, Uwe Reinhardt, had a profound impact on him.

"He was a great professor, and it was actually very fun," Lewis said. "So I was doubly pissed off, because all these people were using this knowledge as a tool just to get a job on Wall Street."

Lewis eventually graduated from LSE and went on to work for financial mammoth Salomon Brothers but continued writing in his spare time. After his initial success with "Liar's Poker" in 1989, Lewis wrote "The New New Thing," which was published in 1999 and explores the tech-boom of the late '90s and the obsession with finding the next big innovation. He made another mark in history with 2003's "Moneyball," a book that came to Lewis unexpectedly.

"I was living out here near the Oakland A's," Lewis said, "and there was this poor team that was winning lots of games. I also ran across a couple of really interesting sports articles, and I was originally writing a piece for a magazine, but it got longer and turned into a book."

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Perhaps it was only natural that Lewis' first book on sports was on baseball. Lewis confessed that baseball was probably his favorite sport and that he had even enjoyed a brief stint at Princeton as a pitcher.

"I pitched two innings for Princeton," Lewis said. "You might be able to find it in the records. But anyway, I was a freshman, and I was just thinking 'I'm making the varsity team,' but I gave up five runs [in my first inning]. It was against Rider or some other school in Jersey. But there were two errors, and I'll never forgive the guys that made them."

Memories like those made Lewis' graduation from Princeton an emotional one.

"I remember being very sad on graduation day that I had to leave this place," Lewis said. "I still have dreams of being in Princeton, and when I wake up, I just get really sad."

For Lewis, it is difficult to choose the most memorable moment of his Princeton career out of the multitude that come to mind. Among them were the fateful meeting with Professor Childs, the Nude Olympics and a roommate who got drunk and planted a parking meter in the Holder courtyard, which drew a good number of Public Safety officers.

One adventure he shared seemed to be particularly enlightening.

"We stole a golf cart at three in the morning," Lewis said. "I initially wanted to use it to turn in a paper that was due, but then we wanted to see how fast it could go down the hill on Washington Road. As we reached the bottom of the hill, there was a policeman with a speed gun, and we were actually speeding with a golf cart."

When asked what his next project would be and whether he would write more about sports, Lewis said that he wanted to do something else. Lewis' most recent book, "The Blind Side," which was released this past September, tells the story of a high school football star's recruitment.

"I'm actually a bit sick of writing about sports. I might do a sequel to 'Moneyball,' but I want to write a book on New Orleans. My family history intersects with a lot of the critical moments of New Orleans, and it's really not like the rest of America."

Lewis will try to make it back to Princeton for his 25th reunion this year. The fans that will greet him there will be outnumbered only by the memories.