When Coach John Wooden graduated from eighth grade his father gave him a handwritten card and said, "Son, try to live up to this." On the card, his father had written seven simple yet profound life principles:
Be true to yourself Help others Make friendship a fine art Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible Make each day your masterpiece Build a shelter against a rainy day by the life you live Give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day
These principles were the key to Coach Wooden's greatness--and his goodness. Through powerful stories and pithy advice, this book shares the wisdom that made Wooden happy and successful. This inspirational and conversational book will encourage, challenge, and motivate readers to build these principles into their own lives.
When John Wooden graduated from eighth grade his father gave him a handwritten card and said, "Son, try to live up to this." On the card, his father had written seven simple yet profound life principles:
Be true to yourself Help others Make friendship a fine art Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible Make each day your masterpiece Build a shelter against a rainy day by the life you live Give thanks for your blessings and pray for guidance every day
These principles were the key to Coach Wooden's greatness--and his goodness. Through powerful stories and advice, this book shares the wisdom that made Wooden happy and successful, not just in his career but in life. This inspirational and conversational book will encourage, challenge, and motivate you to build these principles into your own life so that you can impact the lives of others.
From the Back Cover
Discover Coach Wooden the man as you've never seen him before
"I only spent three years at UCLA while Coach Wooden was still coaching, but I received a lifetime of positive influence from being around him. I leaned on what I learned from him many times throughout my career. I'm positive that you will find this wonderful book as valuable and powerful as I have. Thank you, Pat Williams!"--Dick Vermeil, former Philadelphia Eagles, St. Louis Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs head coach
"This book is about the early years of the greatest basketball coach who ever lived. John Wooden not only taught his players about basketball, he taught them how to live and appreciate life. He was a hero not just to basketball fans but to everybody. I respect John Wooden as a great coach but more importantly as a great man."--Tommy Lasorda, former Los Angeles Dodgers Hall-of-Fame manager
"Coach Wooden's coaching philosophy has played a major role in my basketball career. Now you can learn about the foundation of his life in this important book by Pat Williams. Drop everything you're doing and start reading."--Mike Krzyzewski, Duke University head basketball coach
"Pat Williams has spent a lifetime studying the success principles of his friend John Wooden. This new book is loaded with Wooden wisdom that will deeply impact all of us."--Bill Parcells, Miami Dolphins executive vice president of football operations
"John Wooden represented all the good qualities coaches are always teaching their young athletes. Coach Wooden was a master of getting people to perform at their maximum. This text will define why he was the greatest leader ever to grace the sidelines."--Dick Vitale, ESPN college basketball analyst
Pat Williams is the senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic. As one of America's top motivational, inspirational, and humorous speakers, he has addressed thousands of executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 companies and national associations to universities and nonprofits. Clients include AllState, American Express, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Disney, Honeywell, IBM, ING, Lockheed Martin, Nike, PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Tyson Foods to name a few. Pat is also the author of over 70 books, his most recent title being "NBA LIST JAM!"
Since 1968, he has been in the NBA as general manager for teams in Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia--including the 1983 World Champion 76ers--and now the Orlando Magic, which he co-founded in 1987 and helped lead to the NBA finals in 1995 and 2009. Twenty-three of his teams have gone to the NBA playoffs and five have made the NBA finals. In 1996, Pat was named as one of the 50 most influential people in NBA history by a national publication. Pat is also a recipient of the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Pat has been an integral part of NBA history, including bringing the NBA to Orlando. He has traded Pete Maravich as well as traded for Julius Erving, Moses Malone, and Penny Hardaway, and he has won four NBA draft lotteries, including back-to-back winners in 1992 and 1993. He also drafted Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal, Maurice Cheeks, Andrew Toney and Darryl Dawkins. He signed Billy Cunningham, Chuck Daly, and Matt Guokas to their first professional coaching contracts. Nineteen of his former players have become NBA head coaches, nine have become college head coaches while seven have become assistant NBA coaches.
Additonally, Pat served for seven years in the United States Army, spent seven years in the Philadelphia Phillies organization--two as a minor league catcher and five in the front office--and has also spent three years in the Minnesota Twins organization.
Pat and his wife, Ruth, are the parents of 19 children, including 14 adopted from four nations, ranging in age from 23 to 36. For one year, 16 of his children were all teenagers at the same time. Pat and his family have been featured in Sports Illustrated, Readers Digest, Good Housekeeping, Family Circle, The Wall Street Journal, Focus on the Family, New Man Magazine, plus all of the major television networks, The Maury Povich Show and Dr. Robert Schuller's Hour of Power.
Pat teaches an adult Sunday school class at First Baptist Church of Orlando and hosts three weekly radio shows. In the last 13 years, he has completed 53 marathons--including the Boston Marathon 12 times--and also climbed Mt. Rainier. He is a weightlifter, Civil War buff and serious baseball fan. Every winter he plays in Major League Fantasy Camps and has caught Hall of Famers Bob Feller, Bob Gibson, Fergie Jenkins, Rollie Fingers, Gaylord Perry, Phil Niekro, Tom Seaver and Goose Gossage.
Pat was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, earned his bachelors degree at Wake Forest University, and his master's degree at Indiana University. He is a member of the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame after catching for the Deacon baseball team, including the 1962 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship team. He is also a member of the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.
When Coach Wooden passed away last year I read about the card he kept in his pocket listing the 7 principles his father taught him. I was intrigued. I copied the list and carried it around but I felt something was missing--I wanted to know more about these principles and how to live them in my life.
I was pleasantly surprised and happy to find that Pat Williams has written exactly the book I wanted. I've read his work in the past and knew he was the perfect person to really get at the heart of these principles. Mr. Williams is an innate storyteller and has the kind of curiosity that allows him to ask all the right questions. He interviewed many people close to Wooden to fully understand the man who gave Coach Wooden the principles--his father, Joshua Hugh Wooden. When you know the story you'll see how important these principles become because of how the coach's father lived them.
The book then goes through each principle in detail and gives helpful tips on implementing them daily. It's so useful in this respect that it will probably be always on my desk and not on the shelf!
On the whole, I highly recommend this book. And don't worry--even though Coach Wooden coached basketball and Pat Williams is senior Vice President of the NBA team the Orlando Magic, this book is not about basketball. It's about life.
I've read more than one of Pat William's books, and I'm never disappointed. This latest, a tribute to Coach John Wooden is no exception. It's full of anecdotes from former players, coaches, and friends of the late UCLA legend.
But in reality, this book is a tribute to Coach Wooden's father. On virtually every page Williams relates how the coach would talk about his father and how he wanted to be the kind of person his Dad was. Coach Wooden learned 7 principles that shaped his life..all from his father.
A moving and inspirational read, highly recommended!
Pat Williams is a prolific writer and is widely read for a reason...he is a terrific writer and his books never disappoint. This one is no different. In Coach Wooden, Williams not only shares Coach Wooden's stories, but also the principles that he applied to his life that helped to make him the great man that he was. You will find many great lessons to take away with you when you are done with this book. Applied to your own life, I fully believe you will become the person you want to be.
Having such a great relationship with my father, this book really puts in perspective how importnat it is to take with you the knowledege that you learn form fathers/mothers growing up as a child. I could tell by the book that this man and his father had the relationship that was very special. John Wooden through Pat williams--really came to life for me. I have seen first hand what a father and son relationship can be when love, kindess, courage, and strength are shown from a father to a son. It is up to the child to grow off of that wisdom and that is what John Wooden did. This book is beyond one learning to grow. This is about sharing with others. Coach did that his whole life, and he has proven that success comes in all walks of life. Basketball was the route he took, but so many young men and women are out there, ready to recieve his guidance. This book explains how to lead and communicate with people of all walks of life. For any person, any age this book will deliver exactly what you expect it will. Great author whom I have read many books, and one of the greatest basketball coaches. What a great combination. Read this book; the wisdom is out there, grab it, and run with it.
What a wonderful book about the "source" of a man who influenced 1000's in his lifetime. Pat Williams does a great job of telling us all why John Wooden influenced so many in his life. It is the story of the foundation he received from his Dad that formed his decisions for the rest of his days on the planet.
What a wonderful story of how one man impacted 1000's he has never even met buy being the best Dad he could be.
Our Family LOVES Basketball or rather I should say...." We Love to WATCH Basketball." So, When I learned of the opportunity to read & review a book about the life of One of the Greatest Basketball Coaches EVER, John Wooden, I was beyond excited!
As I read the story of John Wooden and learned more about this amazing Man and unbelievable Coach, I realized what a humble and gentle person he truly was. He lived his life every single day the same way whether he was on the court teaching those men the game or at home beside his beloved wife and children. There are many books and tributes to Coach Wooden but this particular book shares more on Coach Wooden's foundation. A foundation built on a farm with a loving and gentle father-Joshua Hugh Wooden- who taught John and his brothers some very important values and principles on life.
Coach Wooden says of his father "Joshua Hugh Wooden was a farmer ~ honest, hard-working, and fair. I never heard him speak an unkind word about another person, even though on those occasions when he had every reason to. Dad came as close to living the golden rule as anyone I've ever known. He was strong enough to bend a thick iron bar with his bare hands, but he was also a very gentle man who read poetry to his four sons at night. He loved his family deeply." (pg.31)
John Wooden was given a piece of paper from his Father that shared 7 basic principles in which he could live by: 1. Be True to yourself. 2. Help Others. 3. Make Each Day your Masterpiece. 4. Drink Deeply from Good Books, especially the Bible 5. Make Friendship a Fine Art 6. Build a Shelter against a Rainy Day, by the Life you Live 7.... Pray for Guidance and Counsel, and Give Thanks for Your Blessings Each Day
Coach Wooden lived by these principles and he began to share these very lessons with those He coached, mentored, or taught during his life on and off the court.
This is a book I will treasure and read often (kleenex's in hand). Coach Wooden died in 2010, at the age of 99. In his final days as just one of his many friends came in to see him, he asked to shave explaining that he would soon be able to see his Beloved Nell who had passed before him. Coach Wooden's 7 principles are simple, yet very Powerful Words of Wisdom. They continue to help and encourage any who choose to live by them even today.
The author, Pat Williams has penned a Beautiful Tribute to His Friend and Mentor, Coach John Wooden. The more I read, the more I felt as if I had known this wonderful Man and Coach. Pat shares so perfectly how the life lessons learned as a child carried over and produced much fruit in the lives of all who were blessed to know and learn from this precious Man ~ Coach John Wooden.
Whether you are a sports fan or not this is a book anyone can learn from. Just a thought ~ It would make a great gift for those who are graduating this Spring!
Thank you Revell, a Division of Baker Publishing and Donna Hausler for allowing me this complimentary book!Read more ›
