The Best That I Can Be [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Rafer Johnson (Author), Philip Goldberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1998 | ISBN-10: 0783803931 | ISBN-13: 978-0783803937

Rafer Johnson's story is the classic American dream: hard work leading to success, honor, and glory.  Here, he openly writes about his humble beginnings in an obscure African American Texas ghetto, his growing up in the all-white, sun-drenched Californian town of Kingsburg, and his time at UCLA as the president of the student body and an acclaimed athlete.  His talents brought him to dramatic athletic duels in Moscow, Melbourne, and Rome, and to the glamour of acting, broadcasting, and politics in Hollywood, Washington, D.C., and the rest of the nation.

Structured around the ten events of the decathlon, Rafer's memoir vividly describes an exceptional life.  It introduces remarkable people, both unknown and celebrated (the Kennedy family; Gloria Steinem; Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade; Tom Brokaw; and others), who befriended Rafer and affected his life.  It tells of obstacles and tragedies--crippling injuries, an alcoholic father, the assassination of his close friend Robert F.  Kennedy--and what it takes to overcome them.  With tact, integrity, and acute observation, Rafer Johnson shares the intimate moments that have shaped his life and the lives of others.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

After Rafer Johnson abandoned the Texas slums for the idyllic but all-white California town of Kingsburg, he adopted the rallying cry of "be the best that I can be." This cry defines the young African American's character and drives Johnson through racism and poverty to stardom on the track field at UCLA and to a dramatic Olympic gold in 1960. It helps him work graveyard shifts and serve burgers, as he trains for the grueling 10-event decathlon. And it spurs Johnson to run faster, leap higher, and throw farther than any other decathlete in history, despite injury, fatigue, and political pressure from cold war governments. (At a 1958 meet in Moscow, his "summit meeting" with Russian decathlete Vasily Kuznetsov is labeled as the clash of Communism versus the free world.)

But it's Rafer's wealth of accomplishments off the track that make this modestly recounted memoir one that must be told. His colorful life includes a stint as a Hollywood actor, a brief broadcasting career, friendships with Tom Brokaw, Muhammad Ali, and Marlon Brando, and a fling with feminist Gloria Steinem. Even more intriguing is his intimate relationship with the Kennedy family that sadly derails when Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated. Rafer--who helped wrestle the gun away from Sirhan Sirhan--is deeply affected by his friend's death, but plows forward to champion goodwill projects such as Eunice Kennedy's Special Olympics. It's standard fare for Rafer Johnson and yet another example of his commitment to be the best he can be. --Rob McDonald --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

For too many athletes, their best is merely physical. For Johnson, it has been much more. In the Rome Olympics of 1960, Johnson won the Gold Medal in the decathlon, and this event informed his life and his own telling of it, as each of the 10 chapter titles here reflects one event (e.g., "Clearing the Hurdle"). His story is exactly the kind Americans love: born to a hard-working, decent but poor family in a close-knit African American community in Texas, he tried hard and succeeded spectacularly. Rome was followed by a flirtation with the movies (including John Ford's Sergeant Rutledge) and then a job in broadcasting. But most of all, he devoted his life to doing good. His early work for People to People, a worldwide exchange program, led to a meeting with Robert Kennedy, who became a good friend. Through Eunice Kennedy Shriver he founded the California Special Olympics, one of a group of causes that would include the California State Recreation Commission, the Fair Housing Congress, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Campus Crusade, the Peace Corps and HEW's Committee on Mental Retardation. Perhaps it's inevitable that race figures in his memoirs, but his tone is candid, rarely displaying rancor when recalling even recent racism or when discussing the disapproval of his interracial marriage. Over half of the book is devoted to his early life?his schooling at UCLA and his training for Rome?no doubt because it offers good narrative build up. But one senses that Johnson's modesty may have gotten in the way of describing the equally impressive life after. Editor, Eric Major; agent, Lynn Franklin.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 348 pages
• Publisher: G. K. Hall & Company (December 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0783803931
• ISBN-13: 978-0783803937
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,341,102 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Looking for heroes?, December 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Best That I Can Be (Hardcover)

Everyone these days seems to be bemoaning the lack of heroes. We're treated to sex-and-politics scandals with plenty of bad guys and no good ones, sports stars on strike for more millions, etc., etc. Rafer Johnson's book is a wonderful reminder of what real heroism is: working hard, playing fair, doing the right thing. As a high school teacher, I value having real role models to show my students. At the same time, the book really does evoke the spirit of the times and a first-hand sense of the amazing variety of events that Johnson experienced.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A World-Class Human Being Shares his philosophy and memoirs, October 10, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Best That I Can Be (Hardcover)

Rafer Johnson's book contains that rare commodity: truth.

For many years it was my privilege to live next door to the Johnson family's summer retreat. Rafer's days passed pretty much normally, so far as we (his neighbors) could tell. Except for one thing: I doubt that Rafer Johnson allowed a single day to pass without performing some act of generosity or kindness; in one case which I actually witnessed, he saved a neighbor's life and then sat with us to help ease the trauma of the incident.

Raymond Aron once said, "Racism is the snobbery of the poor." Well, there is no snobbery evident in this world-class human being. If nothing else in life had served to teach me that skin color is immaterial, my acquaintance with Rafer Johnson certainly did the trick.

This book will most certainly do the same for its readers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An American jewel shining brightly., December 8, 1998

By 

Rob Shanahan ([e-mail]) (Marina Del Rey, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Best That I Can Be (Hardcover)

A fascinating man with an incredible life story. This book should be a must read for all high school students, athletes or not. Rafer Johnson proves what determination, character, and true grit can accomplish. I loved the book and hope his story is heard through generations. Rafer Johnson is one class act.