About this item
The first comprehensive biography of the legendary figure who defined excellence in American sports: Jim Thorpe, arguably the greatest all-around athlete the United States has ever seen.With clarity and a fine eye for detail, Kate Buford traces the pivotal moments of Thorpe’s incomparable career: growing up in the tumultuous Indian Territory of Oklahoma; leading the Carlisle Indian Industrial School football team, coached by the renowned “Pop” Warner, to victories against the country’s finest college teams; winning gold medals in the 1912 Olympics pentathlon and decathlon; defining the burgeoning sport of professional football and helping to create what would become the National Football League; and playing long, often successful—and previously unexamined—years in professional baseball.
About the Author
My newest book was published in October 2010 by Alfred A. Knopf: Native American Son: The Life and Sporting Legend of Jim Thorpe. It was a Featured Selection of both the Book of the Month Club and the History Book Club. In December the biography was named an Editors' Choice by the New York Times. In April it won the 2011 Larry Ritter Award from the Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) for the best book about the Deadball Era. SEE my website www.katebuford.com for more terrific reviews.On Thorpeblog (http://jimthorpeblog.blogspot.com/) I report on my fascinating journey of writing this biography--from why I chose Jim Thorpe as my subject and the process of researching and finishing the book to taking it on the road after publication... and anything else book-related that comes up.I am also the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling biography, Burt Lancaster: An American Life, published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2000. The book was an Editors' Choice and Best Book of 2000 for The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and other media. The paperback edition, published in 2001 by Da Capo Press, was named a "New and Notable Paperback" by The New York Times. U.K. hardcover and paperback editions were published by Aurum Press in London, as was a new paperback edition in 2008.From 1994 to 1999 I was a commentator for National Public Radio's "Morning Edition." Since 2000 I have been an occasional commentator for "Marketplace," broadcast nationally by American Public Media, and for WMRA, the NPR affiliate in Charlottesville and western Virginia.My articles have appeared in Architectural Digest, The New York Times, The New York Post, Film Comment, TV Guide, Bluegrass Unlimited and other publications. I have appeared on The Charlie Rose Show, ESPN's Reel Classics and Cold Pizza, PBS History Detectives, BBC Radio 4's Great Lives and other TV and radio programs. At the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, New York, I programmed and presented film series on Burt Lancaster, Michael Powell, Katharine Hepburn, War & Film and Horton Foote.I enjoy wintering in New York and summering in the mountains of Virginia, where I play my Rockbridge guitar not as often as I should. Ditto for Ishta yoga.
