All American: The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe [Hardcover]

Bill Crawford (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471557323 | ISBN-13: 978-0471557326 | Publication Date: October 18, 2004 | Edition: 1

"All American is riveting and grand-that rare pairing of exquisite writing and unassailable research. Crawford delivers you to an age when iconic titans like Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner marched across the planet, and he is the perfect guide to their enormous triumphs and tragedies. This is epic American history at its page-turning finest."
-Bill Minutaglio, author of City on Fire and First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty

He was the greatest football running back of his era, leading his Carlisle Indian Industrial School team to victory over all the great college powerhouses. King Gustav of Sweden called him "the greatest athlete in the world" after he won gold medals for the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games. Yet Jim Thorpe was also at the center of the greatest sports scandal of the twentieth century-a scandal that took away his Olympic medals and banned him forever from intercollegiate sports.

Now, in this revealing new biography, Bill Crawford captures Jim Thorpe's remarkable rise and fall. From his youth on Oklahoma's Sac and Fox Indian reservation to his astounding feats on the gridiron, from his Olympic triumphs to his complex relationship with coach "Pop" Warner, who mentored, exploited, and ultimately betrayed him, All American brings you up close and personal with the greatest athlete of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Crawford's terse, punchy biography of sports legend Thorpe (1888–1953) illuminates the current debate over the exploitation of unpaid college athletes by money-making, headline-grabbing educational institutions. Thorpe's own story is familiar: of mixed Caucasian and Native American background, Thorpe was raised on an Oklahoma reservation and was a somewhat obstinate kid before being sent to the Carlisle School, where educators sought to "detach Indians from their native 'savagery.' " Thorpe's awe-inspiring athletic prowess was harnessed for the football team by the school's bullying coach, "Pop" Warner. The young sport, a brutal endeavor still played without guards, was just beginning to catch on when, in 1911, Thorpe led Carlisle to a stunning upset over Harvard. The next year, Thorpe won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon at the Olympics and was arguably America's most lauded athlete. In 1913, though, true reports that Thorpe had played professional minor-league baseball (violating rules for Olympic amateurs) caused a scandal, marked by racist reporting and Thorpe's betrayal by the well-paid Warner, after which Thorpe was stripped of his medals. Texas journalist Crawford enlivens what is normally treated as a gauzy story of struggle against adversity with a no-nonsense approach, letting the racist attitudes against Thorpe speak for themselves and creating a resonant portrait of a champion in a hostile age. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* A case can be made that Jim Thorpe was America's greatest all-around athlete. He won the pentathlon and decathlon in the 1912 Olympics--a feat never duplicated--and he played on both a World Series baseball team and a professional championship football team. Yet he was also a tragic figure. He was stripped of his Olympic medals and records--they were reinstated posthumously--and the financial benefits he reaped from his athleticism were siphoned away by "friends" and ill-chosen advisors. Crawford recounts Thorpe's tumultuous life from a hardscrabble youth on an Oklahoma Indian reservation (during the era when Indian schools sought to wean children away from their "savage" roots) to his emergence as a football All-American at the Carlisle Indian Academy to his Olympic triumph and on to his later years, when he was virtually ignored. Crawford also devotes considerable space to Glenn "Pop" Warner, Thorpe's coach at Carlisle and later his financial advisor and de facto agent. Warner always benefited from his association with Thorpe, but the same can't be said for Thorpe's relationship with Warner. Crawford also sheds considerable light on the stripping of Thorpe's Olympic medals, citing evidence to suggest that professional baseball executives fomented the scandal as a way of forcing Thorpe to play pro ball. This is a carefully researched, thoroughly readable work that will have broad appeal among those with an interest in sports history. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471557323
• ISBN-13: 978-0471557326
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #964,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All American The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe, December 16, 2004

By 

John R. Thorpe - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All American: The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe (Hardcover)

As the youngest son of Jim Thorpe, I want to thank Bill Crawford for finally bringing out the truth in writing as to what happened to our father. For years our family and others have tried to clear his name. Much still needs to be done. Although his Gold Medals from the 1912 Olympics have been returned, dad is only named co-winner. His trophys from the games are still held by the IOC.

Mr. Crawford writes a wonderfull book. But,there is still a lack of understanding of the Indian culture,and what took place in the Indian School System during the early years of the last century, the Indian were not citizens of the United States and held on legal status. Dad did what he was told to do and suffered for his lack of knowledge and having no legal support.

As a family, we still want his name fully cleared and his full honors returned. Then the day would come when he can be put to rest.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The candid portrayal of a courageous and dedicated athlete, January 11, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All American: The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe (Hardcover)

All American: The Rise And Fall Of Jim Thorpe is the biography of one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century - who was also at the center of one of the greatest scandals. Jim Thorpe was a grand football running back, a proud Native American, a college player who led his Carlisle Indian Industrial School team to victory, and the winner of gold medals for the decathlon and the pentathlon at the 1912 Olympic Games. Yet a scandal ensued over whether he was truly worthy of "amateur" sports status, whether playing in certain professional ball games required that he be stripped of his titles. The scandal dragged his reputation through the mud and left a black mark on his life, even though he would go on to play professional baseball and become president of what would one day be the National Football League. All American is the candid portrayal of a courageous and dedicated athlete, and one who was essentially used as a guinea pig to determine the rules - who is an amateur, and who is a pro, and what amateurs and pros are allowed to do or not do. Enjoyable in its own right, All American is a welcome addition to prominent Native American biography collections, and highly recommended for American sports history shelves.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read Book for Many, February 17, 2005

By 

Robert Tallarovic (Flagstaff, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All American: The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe (Hardcover)

This book provides the most detailed history yet of America's greatest athlete. In an era where athletes could not enhance their performance with drugs, Jim Thorpe was clearly, naturally the best. Bill Crawford's detailed account of Thorpe's life leaves no doubt in my mind. I am amazed by the amount of information Crawford provides on Thorpe as well as other athletes of the time. The history he provides of Carlisle and the Indian school system in general illustrates how poorly the BIA and the US government treated Indians. "All American: The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe" should be required reading for all BIA officials as well as strongly recommended reading for others in government. Certainly student athletes and athletic officials would enjoy and learn from it.