Why Die? The extraordinary Percy Cerutty, maker of champions. [Paperback]

Graem Sims (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2003

This is the definitive biography of Australia's most enigmatic, pioneering and controversial athletics coach - best remembered as coach of John Landy in his quest to break the four-minute mile, and of Herb Elliot in preparation for the 1960 Rome Olympics.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Star Bright Books; 1st edition (April 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0734405405
• ISBN-13: 978-0734405401
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,087,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Passion for Life as a Stotan - Percy Cerutty of Portsea, September 26, 2003

By 

Geoff Payne (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Die? The extraordinary Percy Cerutty, maker of champions. (Paperback)

To know Percy Cerutty was to be castigated, scorned and sometimes to question your very existence. Cerutty's goading of athletes would hardly have survived this litigious age. Yet as a runner at his Portsea International Athletics Centre in the sixties, I was drawn to the sheer force of his personality, his originality in research and running, his discourses and attitudes in philosophy, the extraordinary way he almost floated over the ground as he ran, and his lectures at "the circus", the small sandy circle where he held his audience in awe. Cerutty had a simple test of "manliness" and propensity to succeed - if you could survive Portsea and his outbursts, then you could survive most things. Many didn't, but others went on to become world champions in running, cycling, and other sports, and I was privileged to meet some of them. Cerutty coined the term "stotans" deriving it from the greek ancients of "Stoics" and "Spartans."

Graem Sims has researched Percy Cerutty's life very thoroughly and written a long overdue book; a task I had once contemplated myself. In keeping with current storytelling fashions, he starts at the end (of Percy's life), but then traces his entire history. Cerutty really lived two lives; one up to the age of 44 when his health had been devastated by smoking, physical inactivity and early pneumonia and poor diet, and he was given less than two years to live, and the second beginning with his recognition of his need to survive, and embracement of new rules for living, eating and working. To this he added his prolific background of reading in all subjects from theology to science, and his extra-ordinary capacity to experiment and research movement and fitness from first principles. Graem's book provided fascinating insights into aspects of Percy's life that I had not known. While he includes numerous stories of Cerutty's famed biting comments and cantankerous nature, he does not dwell on them in a sensationalist way; rather he explores the whole rich canvas of Cerutty's life and its directions. Many of Cerutty's antics, for example, were deliberate attempts at publicity to attract people and an income to his athletics centre; the sheer diversity of his ambitions and his complex character however often become self-destructive. There are character and biographical sketches of many people who were connected or disconnected with Cerutty, at a time when Australian middle distance runners held world stage, and reproductions of numerous photos including the earliest shacks at Portsea, many from a cache of suitcases unopened for a quarter-century. Cerutty was a model of independent and unbiased research - Graem's biography includes the development of Cerutty's ideas on movement from studying the motion of horses for hours; methodologies which had more in common with the great scientists of the renaissance than the deductive processes in modern laboratories.

This book is not just for Cerutty aficionados and athletes; as a personality, philosopher and scientist, he makes a fascinating subject for anyone interested in the subject of what makes us tick, physically, mentally and emotionally. Much of what he said and did half a century ago is highly relevant to the current era of cloning, bio-ethics and the passion for computerised simulations which take the place of real life. Graem has provided a well-balanced biography of a man who had us eating raw foods and oatmeal decades before the term muesli was heard in Australia, moving heavy weights twenty years before gyms and fitness regimes were embraced by more than dedicated athletes, and a holistic approach to life and ethics that preceded the rise of eastern philosophies into western thinking. A book that I couldn't put down, and highly recommended

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, December 17, 2004

By 

Kevin Joseph (McLean, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Why Die? The extraordinary Percy Cerutty, maker of champions. (Paperback)

This fascinating biography of the legendary Australian track coach Percy Cerutty, based on his cache of personal writings and interviews with his inner circle, portrays a visionary thinker whose fusion of philosophical, biomechanical, naturalistic, nutritional and motivational theories into a "Stotan" approach to athletics and living remains as compelling today as it was during the peak of his popularity in the 1950s and 1960s.

While Cerutty's coaching relationships with milers John Landy and Herb Elliot have been examined in a number of other works, this book sheds new light on the turbulent childhood, adolescent and early adult years that forged his volatile temperament and laid the groundwork for his theories. What emerges is a picture of complex man with an unquenchable thirst for knowledge and curiosity for his environment, which led to a number of groundbreaking theories that won admiration from many. To its credit, the book's even-handed dissection of Cerutty's character gives equal shrift to his manic-depressive tendencies, self-destructive behavior, and the inflammatory outbursts that soured many friendships and spawned a large contingent of detractors. Graem Sims also captures the tension between Cerutty's strong drive to profit from his theories and his refusal to affiliate himself with individuals or projects that offended his Stotan principles.

The book probably won't silence those who view Cerutty as a charlatan who just happened to become associated with talented young men bound for athletic glory with or without his assistance. But it reinforces my conviction that this enigmatic fellow, who ran sand dunes, moved heavy weights and ran six-minute miles well into his sixties, was one of the most important thinkers in the history of athletics. His emphasis on doing things the natural way and disdain for modern trappings and conveniences are particularly meaningful in light of the doping scandals currently rocking the sports world.

-Kevin Joseph, author of "The Champion Maker"

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Trainer of Champions, June 8, 2003

By 

"ridleyben" (Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Why Die? The extraordinary Percy Cerutty, maker of champions. (Paperback)

Inspiring story about one of the greatest coaches and interesting men i have ever read about. The thing about Percy is that he lived what he preached, from the death bed in his mid 40's to running marathons 2 years latter, and then on to coach some of the greatest athletes the world has ever seen in John Landy and Herb Elliot. With his spartan methods that clashed with the rise of modern training, one cant help but think that much of what Percy believed could be mixed with modern traing to create a better athlete. A story that i often think about while i have been running the last few weeks is one of Percy, he had been running with a group of runners including Elliot, the other had finished well before an old Cerrutty and when Cerrutty crossed the line he collapsed in a great deal of pain, the other runners fearing for cerrutty crowded around him, while on the ground in pain Percy then looked up and said, "you boys may be able to run faster, but you will never be able to run as hard", that symbolizes much of what Cerutty is about, violent exercise to strain the organism so it will rebuild stronger. The book isn't perfect though, the first few chapters dont paint much of a picture of Percy's childhood. Sims also deals with Percy's darker side and his obsession with being the centre of attention. Overall and inspiring book, much better written than this jumbled review but i hope it is helpful.