Farewell to Sport
Apr 2015 · Open Road Media
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347
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About this ebook
One of Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 Sports Books of All Time: A classic collection by one of the twentieth century’s most influential sportswriters
From 1923 to 1937, New York Daily News columnist Paul Gallico’s dispatches from ringside, rink-side, the sidelines, and the grandstand were a must-read for every American sports fan. Where else could one discover what it was really like to box heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey? To tee off against golfing legend Bobby Jones? To strap on a glove and try to catch Dizzy Dean’s ferocious fastball?
Gallico went where no other reporter dared, and for that he earned a permanent place in the pantheon of great American sportswriters alongside Ring Lardner, Red Smith, and Roger Kahn. Then, like a pitcher hanging up his cleats after throwing a perfect game, Gallico walked away to pursue other authorial interests, including the fiction that earned him his greatest renown. His parting gift to his devoted readers was Farewell to Sport, a collection of twenty-six of his finest pieces.
In these bulletins from the golden age of sports, Gallico profiles icons such as Babe Ruth, Bill Tilden, and Gene Tunney. He exposes the scripted drama of professional wrestling and the hypocrisy of big-time college football. And in feats of daring that went on to inspire a whole new school of journalism, he sacrifices his pride to meet the greatest athletes of the day on their own turf.
A brilliant snapshot of a fascinating era in sports history and a masterwork remarkably ahead of its time, Farewell to Sport is a fitting testament to the legacy of Paul Gallico.
From 1923 to 1937, New York Daily News columnist Paul Gallico’s dispatches from ringside, rink-side, the sidelines, and the grandstand were a must-read for every American sports fan. Where else could one discover what it was really like to box heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey? To tee off against golfing legend Bobby Jones? To strap on a glove and try to catch Dizzy Dean’s ferocious fastball?
Gallico went where no other reporter dared, and for that he earned a permanent place in the pantheon of great American sportswriters alongside Ring Lardner, Red Smith, and Roger Kahn. Then, like a pitcher hanging up his cleats after throwing a perfect game, Gallico walked away to pursue other authorial interests, including the fiction that earned him his greatest renown. His parting gift to his devoted readers was Farewell to Sport, a collection of twenty-six of his finest pieces.
In these bulletins from the golden age of sports, Gallico profiles icons such as Babe Ruth, Bill Tilden, and Gene Tunney. He exposes the scripted drama of professional wrestling and the hypocrisy of big-time college football. And in feats of daring that went on to inspire a whole new school of journalism, he sacrifices his pride to meet the greatest athletes of the day on their own turf.
A brilliant snapshot of a fascinating era in sports history and a masterwork remarkably ahead of its time, Farewell to Sport is a fitting testament to the legacy of Paul Gallico.
About the author
Paul Gallico (1897–1976) began his writing career at the New York Daily News, where he became one of the best-known sports journalists in America. Over the course of his fourteen years as a daily columnist and editor, he took a knockout punch from Jack Dempsey, caught Dizzy Dean’s fastball, teed off against Bobby Jones, and founded the Golden Gloves boxing tournament. In 1937, at the height of his fame, Gallico quit his column to devote himself to writing fiction. He went on to publish more than forty books for adults and children, including The Snow Goose (1941) and The Poseidon Adventure (1969), the basis for the blockbuster movie of the same name. Lou Gehrig: Pride of the Yankees (1942), a biography of the baseball icon, inspired the Academy Award–nominated film starring Gary Cooper.
Born in New York City to an Italian father and an Austrian mother, Gallico left the United States in 1950 and lived the rest of his life abroad, with stops in England, Monaco, and Antibes, France, among numerous other locales.
Born in New York City to an Italian father and an Austrian mother, Gallico left the United States in 1950 and lived the rest of his life abroad, with stops in England, Monaco, and Antibes, France, among numerous other locales.
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