(CNN) John McNamara was a sportswriter for the Capital Gazette when his life was cut short by a gunman who attacked the newspaper's office in 2018.

At the time of his death, McNamara had been working on a book called "The Capital of Basketball," about the history of the sport in DC area high schools. It was a passion project he worked on for 13 years.

His wife of 33 years, Andrea Chamblee, decided to keep her husband's memory alive the best way she knew how -- by finishing and publishing his book.

"I knew how hard he worked on this book, I couldn't let it go unfinished," she said.

Chamblee, who said she was so impressed when she saw McNamara's boxes of files organized by district, school and player, immediately got to work, recruiting local sportswriters to help.

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