Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait [Hardcover]

Rachel Robinson (Author), Lee Daniels (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1996

In an evocative and personal memoir enhanced by hundreds of photographs, the widow of Jackie Robinson provides an intimate portrait of her husband, his rise to success, the impact of his fame on the family, and his life after baseball. 51,000 first printing. $51,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This rich collection of 301 black-and-white photographs, published in time for the 50th anniversary of the integration of professional baseball in 1947, chronicles the life of Jackie Robinson, one of America's most beloved--and least-known--sports heroes. Robinson's stoicism allowed him to endure racist taunts and mistreatment as the first black major leaguer, but it also kept his fans, and even his family, from seeing beyond the quiet dignity that characterized his public persona. Robinson died prematurely at age 53, having admitted that "I had too much stored up inside." From these photos, and the text co-authored by Lee Daniel, a more full idea of Robinson, the man, emerges.

From Publishers Weekly

There's a mythical character to the story of Jackie Robinson's life and his integration of major league baseball in 1947 that still inspires and amazes. No other professional athlete has combined such excellence and daring on the field with such a fiercely courageous social commitment off it. His wife's straightforward portrait of her life with Jackie, written with freelancer Daniels, has much the same effect?one can't help but admire the both of them. She met Robinson at UCLA in 1939 ("He was very impressive"), where he starred in baseball, football and track; she recounts his army career and his acquittal on drunk and disorderly charges, after a confrontation with racist military police, in a notorious court martial. She happily contrasts the warm embrace of the Canadian fans after Jackie joined the Brooklyn Dodgers top farm club, the Montreal Royals, with the racist harassment the couple experienced in Florida during that first spring training in 1946. And while she writes with the gentle, nostalgic voice of a wife and mother, Rachel Robinson has been a heroine in her own right and she notes her own formidable achievements: she was present at the strategy sessions of Robinson and Brooklyn Dodger president Branch Rickey; she runs the Jackie Robinson Development Corporation, which builds low- and moderate-income housing; and she launched the Robinson Foundation scholarship fund for minority youth after her husband's death in 1972. There is much about their family life and 310 b&w photographs in this quietly informative and often charming retelling of a great American story.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Harry N Abrams; First Edition edition (September 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810937921
• ISBN-13: 978-0810937925
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 9.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,213,621 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #59 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( R ) > Robinson, Jackie

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.