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Overview
Jim Thorpe was cheered as a superman when he won Olympic gold medals in both the decathlon and the pentathlon. Later, the young Native American was stripped of those honors and disgraced when authorities discovered he once played semi-professional baseball.A biography of the American Indian known as one of the best all-round athletes in history for his accomplishments as an Olympic medal winner and as an outstanding professional football and baseball player.
Editorials
Janice Del Negro
With a writer of Lipsyte's caliber, the high/low appearance of this short sports biography is an asset instead of a liability. Tracing the life of Jim Thorpe or Bright Path, the name given to him by his Native American mother from his childhood spent in reservation schools to his young adulthood in the larger arena of college and the Olympic games to his early death in 1953, Lipsyte shows a man who succeeded against all odds, only to be brought down by a racist press and public. Placing Jim Thorpe in the context of his time, Lipsyte talks about the limited opportunities made available to Native Americans and the prevailing attitudes of the white society that provided them. Involving and thought provoking, the account has wide applicability across curriculum lines, and it will fill a number of current information needs in the areas of biography, sports, Native Americans, and race relations.Book Details
Published
November 1, 1993
Publisher
Harpercollins
Pages
112
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780060229894