John Telford has run on many tracks during his tumultuous seventy-three years--not all of them always the right ones. He outran Olympic champions, appeared on television, coached and taught in ghetto schools and in colleges, led school districts, and fought for urban school reform and minority rights. But he also was incarcerated as a teen, was expelled from a Detroit high school for brawling with an administrator, made indiscreet and indiscriminate love with other men's wives, and was attacked for his controversial educational and social initiatives. Dr. Telford pulls no punches telling his often scandalous, sometimes humorous, yet poignant and inspiring life story. In this blockbuster autobiography, an electrifying educator, athlete, lover, and poet bares his soul. Once you start reading it, you won't be able to stop!
Dr. John Telford has long been called a lightning rod for controversy. He retired in 1991 as Deputy Superintendent of Schools in 98 percent white Rochester, Michigan, where skinheads riddled his house with midnight gunfire for hiring black administrators. After retiring, he became an executive director in the Detroit Public Schools, where he clashed with inept top administrators. He served most recently as the superintendent of the Madison District Schools and was fired for recruiting hundreds of Detroit students against the wishes of white residents.
Undefeated at 400 meters in Europe as a world-ranked sprinter, Dr. Telford coached champions and authored a noted book on the quarter mile--The Longest Dash. In 1978, he was inducted into the Wayne State University Athletic Hall of Fame. He has written newspaper columns, hosted radio shows and directed human-rights agencies. A former director of the innovative and controversial Division of Basic Education at Macomb Community College and a published poet, he also taught at Wayne State and Oakland universities.
Wayne State University named Dr. Telford its Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2001 for his civil-rights activism. A Detroit high school track is named for him. Throughout the years, his students have consistently pronounced him a great teacher. Their accolades are the ones the 73-year-old activist values most.
