In Black Maestro, Joe Drape meticulously brings to life the drama, adventures, romances, and heartbreaks of an unlikely participant in the greatest historical events of the twentieth century. It is a breathtaking narrative that takes you from pastoral Kentucky to Mob-controlled Chicago, from the horse country of Poland to the chaos of Red Square, and from freewheeling Paris to the hard-luck American South of the Depression. It is also a story that returns Jimmy Winkfield to his rightful place as an original American hero. In 1919, at the age of thirty-seven, as Bolshevik cannon fire thundered above, the already epic life of Jimmy Winkfield turned into an odyssey. With a ragtag band of Russian nobility and Polish soldiers, the son of a black sharecropper from Chilesburg, Kentucky, was entrusted with saving more than 250 of the most royal but fragile thoroughbreds left in crumbling Csarist Russia. They trekked 1,100 miles from Odessa to Warsaw for nearly three months amid the bloodiest part of the Russian Revolution, surviving gunfire and starvation….
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
New York Times writer Drape (The Race for the Triple Crown) illuminates a little-known figure in the history of American sports: Jimmy Winkfield, the last black jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. Like that of more well-known black performers Paul Robeson and Josephine Baker, Winkfield's successwas a mixed blessing: racism and injustice ultimately force Winkfield to flee his native country for Russia, where he witnesses the revolution and lands in Paris with other Russians. The youngest of 17 children in a Kentucky sharecropping family, Winkfield's passion for horses sets in early, and his slight stature bolsters his desire to be a jockey, "where blacks and whites rubbed shoulders without cross words or a stinging backhand to upset the harmony."Black jockeys such as "the legendary slave jockey Simon ... who helped drive General Andrew Jackson from the racing game" and Isaac Murphy, who was so successful, he built himself a $10,000 house before the turn of the 20th century. While Drape's attempts at novel-esque narrative occasionally read cliché, this well-researched biography of Jimmy Winkfield and the larger chapter of America his life highlights is a valuable and entertaining read. 16 page b&w photo insert.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
The prospects for a small black man born in the American South in 1882 were grim. That Jimmy Winkfield, the seventeenth child of a sharecropper, grew from such barren ground to become the toast of three continents is nearly incredible. Winkfield's gift was a unique ability to understand and communicate with Thoroughbred racehorses. He parlayed that gift into worldwide success as a jockey, winning consecutive runnings of the Kentucky Derby in 1901 and 1902 before fleeing America's racism for even greater fame in Europe and in Russia. Along the way, he married three times (twice to white women), took two mistresses, fathered five children, made and lost fortunes, and was a firsthand witness to many of the events that shaped the twentieth century. Drape's exhaustive research allows him to tell Winkfield's story in detail and in context. While fully appreciative of Winkfield's accomplishments as a jockey, a horseman, and a man, Drape doesn't gloss over the jockey's many transgressions against those he loved, and that is what makes this biography not just a tribute but a life. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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More About the Author
I've covered everything from earthquakes to political conventions, Olympics to college championships. But returning to high school in the heart of America with my wife and 3-year-old son to write "Our Boys: A Perfect Season on the Plains with the Smith Center Redmen has been my most rewarding experience. I made friends for life and "Our Boys" became a New York Times Bestseller. Check out www.joedrape.com for more about Smith Center and the Redmen. About me: I am a Kansas City native, a graduate of Southern Methodist University and reporter for The New York Times. I previously worked for The Dallas Morning News and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When I'm not in Kansas, I live with my wife and son in New York City.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
what a ride,
By
This review is from: Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend (Hardcover)
This book has it all. An amazing story, one that rivals Forest Gump for eccentric adventures. A well wrought and meaningful look at racism, and one man's equanimous manner of dealing with it. And the sure hand of Joe Drape, whose horseracing coverage for the New York Times has no rival in the industry. A must read. It's got Seabiscuit's depth and incredibly detailed research, with even more heroic heights. It is amazing that this story is not a part of racing, and our country's lore. But thanks to this book, my guess is it becomes just that.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read!,
By
This review is from: Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend (Hardcover)
This book is so well written that it got me hooked on it right away and I am not a racing fan. The author, Joe Drape really captured the essence of Jimmy Winkfield and brought his story to life in this book. After reading this book I was left with the firm understanding that man can accomplish so much in a lifetime; it is up to us to make something of our lives regardless of the circumstances we find ourselves in. It is a truly amazing account of one man's life. Jimmy Winkfield is a legend and I would not have heard about him if it were not for this book.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A True Forrest Gump,
By
This review is from: Black Maestro: The Epic Life of an American Legend (Hardcover)
What a story! Born one of 17 children in a poor, black, Kentucky farm, Jimmy Winkfield won the Kentucky Derby twice. He tried again in 1903 but failed and his career was over. Except that by moving to Europe and Russia he continued as a top rider in the Sport of Kings.
He was doing exceedingly well when the 1917 Revolution came along to disrupt. So what he did then was to collect some 250 horses and drive them to Poland. Later he moved to Paris and was living there when the Germans came in 1940. He returned to the United States where he again became a victum of the blatent racism of the time. Again he was able to persevere and prosper by turning broken-down thoroughbreds into money-making racehorses. This is an exceedingly well researched, very well written book that brings a little known sports figure a small amount of the recognition he deserves. This book follows 'Wink: The Incredible Life and Epic Journey of Jimmy Winkfield (ISBN: 0071418628)' When asked why he picked this subject, the author responded: 'Jimmy Winkfield lived a life that transcended sports or horses. He witnessed lynchings, felt the constraints of Jim Crow laws. He was a rich man with a white valet in Russia. He romanced beautiful women on three continents, dodged bullets and the Bolsheviks to save some of the world's finest thoroughbreds in a trail drive that makes 'Lonesome Dove' look like a walk in the park. He was chased out of France by the Nazis and, in 1961, had to demand the right to enter a party that he was invited to at Louisville's Brown Hotel. This wild arc was all made possible because of Jimmy's singular gift for communicating with racehorses.'
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