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Lambeau Ladies: The Boundary-Breaking Women Behind Lombardi’s Packers – Book Review + Author Event August 7 in Green Bay!

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Finally! The untold store of the Lombardi-era Green Bay Packers’ wives and girlfriends and children is finally being told by some of their own! I was lucky enough to receive an Advanced Reader’s Copy from Edelweiss. The book was officially released August 4, 2026.

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And don’t forget your local library!

A book for anyone who thinks they know everything there is to know about the Green Bay Packers!

Long before NFL players had teams of trainers, nutritionists, therapists, agents, and other specialists, the dynastic Green Bay Packers of the 1960s relied on a different kind of support staff: their wives. In Lambeau Ladies, mother and daughter Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic tell the remarkable, largely untold story of the women who helped to keep the Lombardi-era Packers performing at a championship level. From preparing game-day sandwiches, nursing injuries, and reviewing game film to managing households, hosting social gatherings, and providing emotional strength to their spouses, these women were a driving force behind one of the greatest teams in football history.

Through intimate interviews and vivid storytelling, the authors bring to life the experiences of Cherry Starr, Vicky Aldridge, Barbara Gregg, Ruth Pitts, Peggy Kostelnik, and many other wives who formed deep friendships and carved out lives of meaning far from their hometowns, often in the face of social and racial barriers. With humor and candor, they describe making ends meet on modest salaries, feeding hungry young players who wandered into their kitchens, boosting their husbands’ confidence, and coming up with ingenious strategies for staying warm—and stylish—on the sidelines during Green Bay’s frigid winters.

Their stories reach far beyond football. Some of these women helped integrate Green Bay during the civil rights movement. One became one of the district’s first Black teachers; another was half of one of the NFL’s first interracial marriages. Others made contributions in their own singular ways—fostering children, launching a business and a community organization, becoming a voice in local media. And at the center of it all was Marie Lombardi, the coach’s wife and the de facto mentor of the entire wives’ cohort, whose influence extended from locker-room culture to community life.

Lambeau Ladies paints a rich portrait of midcentury Green Bay—a place where championship football, small-town rhythms, and national social change converged—and reveals how the Packers’ dynasty was shaped as much in living rooms, kitchens, and carpool lanes as on the frozen turf of Lambeau Field.

Warm, funny, and deeply inspiring, Lambeau Ladies celebrates the extraordinary women who helped build a dynasty—and, in the process, changed their town, their team, and each other.

Thanks to Edelweiss and the Wisconsin Historical Society Press for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Ladies of Lambeau is a great look back to the Glory Years of Green Bay Packers football. Just when you think there couldn’t be another angle to explore from those legendary days, you’d be wrong. Ladies of Lambeau explores the women of the Lombardi-era Packers.

I knew from Instant Replay, Jerry Kramer’s revelatory memoir, that he and one other player lived in the neighborhood where we live now. What I did not know was that there were soooo many other players and coaches who called our neighborhood home.

The parts of the book that stood out to me the most is how the wives of the Black players felt from living in Green Bay during the1 960s. To say Green Bay was a WHITE city is no joke; even when I was a kid in the 1970s and 80s, if you saw a Black person on teh street, people would wonder if s/he was a) a player, b) a players wife and kids, c) a player’s parents or related to a player in some way. (There are still people in Green Bay who think like this, but I digress). I was really invested in how these Black women dealt with living in little ole Green Bay. They revealed a lot, but it felt like they were holding back some, too.

There were also plenty of stories from the children of the players and some of the neighborhood adventures on. And the reader also gets new perspectives on the Ice Bowl, Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II.

I really appreciated this look at the other side of football that is often overlooked, and the fact that it’s about Lombardi’s 5-time world champion Green Bay Packers was a plus.

And great news! The authors are having a get-together at Lion’s Mouth Bookstore later this week!

Author Event

  • Who: Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic
  • What: Sharing Stories from their new book, Lambeau Ladies
  • Where: Lion’s Mouth Bookstore
  • When: August 7, 2026; 5:30-6:30p
  • FREE admittance. Books will be available to purchase.

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