Jack Lovelock "As If Running on Air" book

I read and loved Harris's book on Lovelock--what a writer!--and if you rate this at the same level, I'm game for it.

Great life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lovelock

gruesome death.

Kiwi fan wrote:

Great life.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Lovelock

gruesome death.

The Wikipedia entry scants some important details:

"In 1940, he was thrown from a horse during a hunt and lay unconscious for an hour before he was discovered. He sustained a broken arm and leg and suffered severe damage to one eye. Though he recovered, he suffered double-vision, blinding headaches and occasional dizziness for the rest of his life.

"During World War II, Lovelock joined the British Army and was stationed in Northern Ireland, working in the field of physical medicine. He rose to the rank of major.

"He and his American wife, Cynthia James, moved to New York, where Lovelock was assistant director of physical medicine at the Manhattan Hospital for Special Surgery.

"On December 28, 1949, eight days before his 40th birthday, he began having dizzy spells and telephoned his wife that he would be coming home early. He was standing on the southbound platform of the Church Street subway station in Brooklyn when he suddenly pitched forward on to the tracks and was struck by an oncoming train, dying instantly."

jean,

first, i am enjoying your posta and knowldege

second, i agree that harris' book is excellent. it is one of the favorites in my collection

third, i have helped cam with finding a book about lasse viren. cam treats me well. his recommendation gets a plus from me

Thanks--once I get an income again, I'll buy it!

Glad to see some publicity for my Lovelock book over there in the USA. Lovelock had a strong American connection and his great races in the 1930s against the American stars Bill Bonthron and Glenn Cunningham were highlights of his career, and of the book.

For those wanting to buy a copy a more direct link to the book on the publishers website is

www.jacklovelock.co.nz

but the link above works just as well

Cost has to include postage from here to America, but the other hand, the exchange rate strongly favours the American buyer. Works out about $US45 total

There is also a fictional "autobiography" of Lovelock by NZ writer James McNeish that I read a number of years ago.

This is worse

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ogu1Qv9RZRA

Lovelock has become a real legend down here in kiwiland - at least as big here as Babe Ruth or Jesse Owens might be in the US. In addition to Harris's 1963 book, and lots of other sports writing about him, there is the novel by McNeish, a short fictional film, and two popular plays!

A lot of it, though, has thoroughly mythologised the man - according to some accounts his life seemed a tale of drugs, obsession, and suicide. None of which was the actual case. The story is fascinating enough without the fiction.

What Lovelock did do was leave a remarkable series of lively journals tracing about his sporting life. These have never been published before.

The book publishes them for the first time, with a biographical introduction, introductions to each of his great years on the track, essays on his great rivals, a study of training in the 1930s, and a critique of earlier writing - all illustrated with the photographs and cartoons Lovelock collected at the time.

As the author I am biased, of course - but I think you will enjoy it!

Have to agree with the comments about this book. I have just read it and it gives a great insight into what it was like to be a worldclass athlete in the 1930s, through Lovelock's own eloquent, thoughtful, and frank private journals. It is beautifully produced with some excellent photographs.

The other posts may make it sound a bit New Zealand-orientated, but it is not. Lovelock's career was on the running tracks of England, Europe and the States, and it is all about that and how he finished it all off with a gold medal and a world record at the Berlin Olympics.

It is a book that deserves much more attention that it has got, which is why I am sending this. Anyone interested in running history should read it!

Last couple minutes of Lovelock's Olympic win--sorry about the sound...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aeXPyJI24tk