Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story [Hardcover]

John Feinstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2004

Beyond golf's polished surface there lies a world not often seen by the average fan. The caddy sees everything - the ambition, the strategy, the rivalries, the jealousies - that occurs behind the scenes. Award-winning John Feinstein, America's favourite sportswriter, got one of golf's legendary caddies to reveal the secrets behind the most popular sport of our time. Bruce Edwards was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in January 2003, a progressive disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, but he dominated coverage of the 2003 US Open. This is a position not usually bestowed on a caddy, but Edwards was no ordinary caddy. In 1973, after forgoing college, Edwards walked on the course behind a young Tom Watson and never looked back. Watson would go on to win eight major titles with Bruce Edwards by his side. Edwards continued to do the job he had dedicated more than half his life to right up to his death in April 2004, aged 49. This is a moving, dramatic and thoughtful book about a life devoted to sports.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sportswriter Feinstein (Open; The Majors) delivers another solid look at the world of golf and its many interesting personalities, and this newest is his most intimate work so far. His subject is Bruce Edwards, who has been known within golf's tight-knit world as the caddy for over 40 years for legendary pro Tom Watson. Edwards's life story is a microcosm of the changes in modern professional golfing, and this book will thoroughly entertain golf fans. The personal edge in Feinstein's writing comes from the fact-acknowledged immediately in the book's introduction-that Edwards was diagnosed in 2003 with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, and that he found this out only 15 days after proposing to the longtime love of his life. Fortunately, Feinstein is skilled at looking at Edwards's professional and personal challenges without becoming mawkish and delivers a solid testament to a life well led. Feinstein nicely captures how Edwards, by caddying for Watson, "became the public face of those changes"-from Edwards's teenage years, working only at individual clubs for small change with a range of golfers competing for purses that were one-thirtieth of what they are now, to today, when a caddy can make an annual income well into six figures working for a successful player. The book, in effect, also offers a fine bio of Watson, as Feinstein recounts in energetic detail the many important tournaments that Watson won with Edwards's assistance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

More than a factotum who lugs clubs, a professional caddy has to mesh psychologically with his boss. This ineffable necessity comes out in Feinstein's biography of a caddy who is well-known in golfing circles through his employment since 1973 by a top name in the sport, Tom Watson. Feinstein recounts on-course anecdotes that illustrate Edwards and Watson's working manner. Their relationship dwells in the average golf fan's memory thanks to a video clip, infinitely relooped during the U.S. Open every year, of Watson celebrating with Edwards after holing an impossible chip to defeat Jack Nicklaus at the 1982 Open. But the reason television loved that loop in 2003 was not joyous; it was valedictory, for Edwards had been diagnosed with a fatal affliction, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), popularly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Asked by Edwards to write his life story, Feinstein has done so with thoroughness and insight into the itinerant world of caddies and how they make it on tour, and, when the news arrived of Edwards' bad break, with subdued frankness about the tears and anger such news provokes. Feinstein's golf books--lately, Open: Inside the Ropes at Bethpage Black [BKL My 1 03]--are highly popular with fans, and Edwards' tragedy is bound to widen readership to those involved with ALS. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (April 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316777889
• ISBN-13: 978-0316777889
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #877,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Feinstein spent years on the staff at the Washington Post, as well as writing for Sports Illustrated and the National Sports Daily. He is a commentator on NPRs "Morning Edition," a regular on ESPNs "The Sports Reporters" and a visiting professor of journalism at Duke University.His first book, A Season on the Brink, is the bestselling sports book of all time. His first book for younger readers, Last Shot, was a bestseller.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN "IT'S ABOUT TIME" TRIBUTE TO A GOLF GREAT!, April 5, 2004

By 

D. McAllister "MRD" (Somewhere in the Field) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story (Hardcover)

For many years the professional golfer was the guy in the limelight on golf's center stage. That was it. Think about it. Can anyone name those who carried the bag for Jones, Hagen, Sarazen, Snead, Nicklaus, Player or Palmer? Unless you are a bookish expert on the undercover aspects of golf it is likely that you can't.

And then things changed. And who changed them? Almost magically we all became acquainted with Tom Watson's caddy, Bruce Edwards. He was always there and he brought an appropriate respect to those who, day in and day out, walked the courses with the golfers we admired.

It was Edwards' focus on being a caddy--a professional part of the game--that changed things. No longer just some person brought along to tote the bag, the caddie emerged as an essential partner in the process.

Today it is not uncommon for us to know the names of the caddies of many of the top pros on tour or to keep track of their activities. For example, wasn't it interesting that, just a few years ago, Tiger Woods' decision to replace Mike "Fluff' Cowan with Steve Williams as his caddy made almost headline news in the world of golf? It was equally interesting that we all cheered when Fluff resurfaced on Jim Furyk's bag and was there when Furyk seized his first major at the 2003 US Open. I think I correctly surmise that none of this would have ever made a paragraph in the news without the pioneering influence of Bruce Edwards.

It's important to remember, as well, that Edwards gained his notoriety BEFORE his being tragically stricken with ALS. This book is not the result of someone playing solely on the tragedy but an "it's about time" story of one of the great personalities of the game of golf.

CADDY FOR LIFE: THE BRUCE EDWARDS STORY is a must read for anyone who loves the game. Filled with anecdotes, perspectives and the story of arguably golf's first recognized caddy, the book is an essential addition to the library of any serious student of the game.

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Take it from a non-golfer... this book is a MUST!!!, May 27, 2004

By 

J. Koscher (Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story (Hardcover)

I am not a golfer. I don't play golf, watch golf or even play an impressive round of putt putt. This is the third Feinstein golf book I've read and probably the best. I was amazed not only by the power of the story but once again at Feinstein's writing power. I first experienced it when I happened upon my ex-husbands "A Good Walk Spoiled" and thought I'd read a few chapters until I got to the library to pick up something I wanted to read... 544 pages later I was fired up and completely engaged in the world of golf. Since then I have suggested that book to everyone I know who even has a mild interest in golf and many who don't. I was sitting in a hotel room in California when I saw on the news that Bruce Edwards had died. I immediately ordered "Caddy for Life". Feinstein had me hooked after the first page of the introduction. He has helped share the legacy of Bruce Edwards with a non-golfer like me. He treated Edward's life with dignity and compassion while giving the special gift of letting the reader meet the remarkable man which Bruce Edwards embodied. He will be missed not only on the golf green but also on this planet. Read this book... may we all be able to live a life as intentional and giving as Bruce Edwards.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A tale of golf, friendship and courage, January 9, 2005

By 

Matt Papuchis (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caddy for Life: The Bruce Edwards Story (Hardcover)

Perhaps my only mistake was choosing to start reading this book the same night I had finished John Feinstein's most recent effort, "Let Me Tell You a Story," his book about the legendary Celtics figure, Red Auerbach. For that reason and that reason only, it took me a little longer to get into this one. After all, following that one is almost impossible.

But this one does. It is at times funny and sad and as a result, there are times this book brings out a smile, but many times it brings out a tear. But through it all, Feinstien's gift for telling a story makes this book one of the best books I have read. It is a story about a caddy with ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Bruce Edwards, the long-time caddy to golf great Tom Watson, was diagnosed with the fatal illness in January of 2003, a little more than two years ago. The book chronicles his life on the PGA Tour with, not only his brother-like relationship with Watson, but with everyone who ever came into his life. It is apparent that he touched a lot of lives during his 30+ year career on tour.

Through it all, until the end, Edwards was a picture of perservearance, bravery and courage. He refused to let the illness get the better of him. If memory serves, Edwards passed away shortly after this book was published. May he rest in peace.