Literary Titan – The Interview

In the Literary Titan interview titled “Preserving History” (August 22, 2025), Norman Jetmundsen discusses his motivation and process behind creating Unrivaled: Sewanee 1899—a visually rich coffee-table book that follows a documentary film chronicling Sewanee’s extraordinary 1899 football season.

Jetmundsen explains that as a former Sewanee student from the 1970s, he and his classmate David Crews longed for a documentary of that legendary team. When one never materialized, they took it upon themselves to produce it. After completing the film, Jetmundsen and co-author Karin Fecteau realized that they had amassed a wealth of original paintings, music scores, and archival documentation. This discovery inspired them to develop a high-quality coffee-table book to preserve the story in a more tactile and enduring form.

He outlines the extensive research behind the project: nearly five years of archival exploration in Sewanee’s records, interviews with individuals connected to the story, and outreach to schools the team had played during their historic run. Following that, Jetmundsen and Fecteau dedicated two additional years to crafting the book’s design and content.

When asked whether anything surprising emerged from the research, Jetmundsen reflected that the real history turned out to be “far richer and more layered” than the lore itself. They unearthed previously undiscovered photos and materials, and came to realize the true events—not just the legendary narrative—were even more compelling.