The act of calling a live horse race has got to be one of the most solitary, yet public endeavors around a track. Announcers have the power to attach their own soundtrack to a race for posterity.Whether you are Aiello, Becker, Beem, Calo, Collmus, Dinerman, Dooley, Geller, Griffin, Mirahmadi, Paquette, Rodman, Stone, Tammaro, Wrona or any of the others who dot racing's current U.S. landscape on high, track announcers are both foreign language translators and air traffic controllers. The big top demands an entertaining ringmaster and the pressure is immense to get the call right.According to Tom Durkin–one of the best to ever turn a cold mic into a hot one–the way to succeed in the booth is by trying to channel energy into your own work.Durkin's new colorful and thoroughly entertaining memoir, A Life's Calling: The Voice Behind the World's Greatest Horse Races with Paul Volponi and Lenny Shulman, is a tour de force for not only the racing community, but also for the history of sport. Readers get to peer through the high-powered binoculars and into the mind of a creative genius. Act 1A native of Chicago and a devotee of the great concertmaster Phil Georgeff, Durkin built his career over the decades brick-by-brick. He started out on the fair circuit in Wisconsin during the 1970s and later called harness races. Like a plucky Horatio Alger character, Durkin used his wits to slide into the next base, then he eventually stole home.In the book, Durkin gives ample credit to the people who supported him over the years. Littered throughout the text are wonderful sidebars from those who knew him and his calls best. The one by Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez about experiencing a call post-race was particularly insightful.There's great humor in here too, like when Durkin was a contestant on Match Game PM and kissed actress Debralee Scott–twice. Alas, I wanted to hear more about nights out on the town with Drew Mollica.The track announcer's passion for language, theater, opera, classical music, travel, art and architecture made him a lifelong learner, and he infused that knowledge into his craft.You begin to understand how preparation became central to what Durkin was seeing from all the greats. Personal Ensign, Cigar, the battle between Victory Gallop and Real Quiet and everyone from Rachel Alexandra 'The Great' to Derby longshots are here. Durkin dressed for all of them even though he never had the chance to call a Triple Crown winner.The announcer's meteoric rise hit another register when he scored the gig for a new fangled day called the Breeders' Cup in 1984 and that break beamed his voice into living rooms via NBC.Other opportunities followed and it was clear that Durkin was headed for great things. Landing the NYRA post became his last stop and he made it a good one. In the interest of vernacular architecture, Durkin said it was the Big A which offered the best vantage point, while Saratoga presented its own set of challenges. Act 2Where the memoir really excels is in the detail that Durkin offers when it comes to the stress of calling.The author is candid about how he sought help to manage his anxiety and we get a front row seat as 'Monastic Tom' set aside luxuries like rich food and drink to prep for the Breeders' Cup.courtesy of Bloomsbury PressThe notebook, called the 'Mayor Daley,' that he compiled of words and phrases was a treasure trove, and probably belongs under a vitrine cabinet at the National Museum of Racing & Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, New York where Durkin serves as an expert docent. That's like having Frank Lloyd Wright consult on your kitchen redo.Armed with a large dictionary that he would tote around, the wordsmith tried valiantly to develop an arsenal of verbiage, so he could elocute at the proper moment. As previously mentioned, calling is about preparation, but finding the proper word or phrase when it counts is another kettle of fish.What made Durkin truly great were those rhetorical turns of phrase like 'both runners sent to the limit' and 'he wins by a desperate neck.' He created dramatic imagery and the storytelling flowed forth.Spurning vanilla calls, Durkin's magic came from an understanding that denouement–the untangling of the plot–was crucial. He didn't always get it right, but memorizing silks then forgetting them by the next race isn't easy either. Act 3Durkin's memoir certainly replays important tales from the racetrack that inspired the next generation of track announcers like Georgeff did for him.An adopted son of Saratoga, Durkin's presence in an emeritus capacity makes his role even more important when it comes to racing's story. He's a connoisseur in every sense of the word with a seemingly endless well of curiosity, praise be.A Life's Calling was just that for Tom Durkin. His voice and the way he carried it made a difference.With an applied energy, his set design transformed the booth into a stage. So we shout in unison, Bravo, Bravo!__________________A Life's Calling: The Voice Behind the World's Greatest Horse Races by Bloomsbury Publishing, 216 pages, photos, May 2026.The post Book Review: How Tom Durkin’s Set Design Transformed The Booth Into A Stage appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.