Jim Murray: An Autobiography

Overview

For nearly five decades, readers have been indebted to James Richardson - and to Frank McCulloch of the Los Angeles Times, who in 1961 sold Jim Murray on the idea of writing a daily sports column and began a legend. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, one of the original writers for Sports Illustrated, awarded the title Sportswriter of the Year a record fourteen times, Murray has captivated generations of readers - not merely sports fans, but all admirers of the writer's craft. In Jim Murray: An Autobiography, he chronicles his early days as a Time magazine reporter - interviewing Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne, covering the 1952 presidential campaign and the start of Richard Nixon's remarkable political career. But it is the world of sports - "corporate America in cleats" - that has given Jim his richest lode of material, stories about the people and personalities who have touched his life and the lives of millions more. Here is Muhammad Ali, who didn't fight but gave recitals; Pete Rose, the eternal fourteen-year-old and his own worst enemy (but not as long as Bart Giamatti was around); Magic Johnson, who could have taken a bunch from a local YMCA and won an NBA championship; Arnold Palmer, the man who single-handedly took golf out of the agate columns and made it page one news; wildcat owners like Jack Kent Cooke and Al Davis; and dozens more. And here is Murray speaking out against the demonizing impact of television and the persistent power of racism in sports broadcasting and reporting. Here is Murray on his youth, his ambitions and his triumphs. Here are his personal trials - the loss of his wife and his youngest son, and his ongoing fight to retain his eyesight. Here is the life story of Jim Murray - as opinionated, witty and warm as the man himself.

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