Acclaim for The Immortal Bobby
"Just when you think there is nothing new to be said or written on the subject of Bob Jones, Ron Rapoport comes along and proves that theory completely untrue. The Immortal Bobby is wonderfully reported and superbly written."
--John Feinstein, author of A Good Walk Spoiled and Caddy for Life
"The story of Bobby Jones's singular life is one of the most fascinating in sports history. Ron Rapoport's thoughtful, graceful style is well suited to telling that story."
--Bob Costas, broadcaster, NBC Sports and HBO Sports
"Beyond the grainy newsreels and the confetti falling on Broadway and Peachtree Street, there was an essential Bobby Jones, and Ron Rapoport reveals him splendidly in a portrait as graceful as the man. There's more here than Grand Slam 1930--the jangling nerves and self-doubt, the towering modesty in response to fame, the complexity of an Atlanta patrician, a life richly lived."
--Gary M. Pomerantz, author of Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn
"The skills of writing and reporting that fans of Ron Rapoport, like me, have come to expect from him over the years--candor, thoughtfulness, insight, perspective, humor--are once again demonstrated and illuminated in The Immortal Bobby. It is an important book about an important sports figure that, typically for Rapoport, goes beyond the confines of sports and fits firmly in the context of our culture."
--Ira Berkow, sports columnist and author of Red: A Biography of Red Smith
"Here is Bobby Jones as you've never seen him, almost fearful in the fires of competition, and Ron Rapoport shows us how that man became a legend."
--Dave Kindred, coauthor (with Tom Callahan) of Around the World in 18 Holes
Table of Contents:
Introduction. PART I: Little Bob and Mr. Jones.
1. East Lake Days.
2. The Jewel of the South.
3. The Keeper of the Flame.
4. “Emotions Which Could Not Be Endured”.
5. “By No Means Fit for the Honourable Company”.
6. The Long Lane Turns.
7. “My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen, Are We Downhearted?”.
8. “It Was Perfect and That Is All There Is to Say about It”.
9. “Like a Hero Back from the War”.
10. “He Belongs to Us All”.
11. “You Can Never Know How I Envied You”.
12. “Don’t Kill the Star in the Prologue”.
PART II: The Grand Slam.
13. Impregnable Quadrilaterals, Then and Now.
14. “Your Boy Is Just Too Good”.
15. The British Amateur: “They Ought to Burn Him at the Stake”.
16. The British Open: Great Men of Hoylake.
17. The U.S. Open: “The Lord Must Have Had His Arms Around Me”.
18. Homecoming.
19. The U.S. Amateur: “Into the Land of My Dreams”.
20. Quitting the Memorable Scene.
PART III: The Best That Life Can Offer . . . and the Worst.
21. Hollywood, Augusta, and Beyond.
22. “White as the Ku Klux Klan”.
23. “I’ve Been Having Some Numbness in My Limbs”.
24. “Will Ye No’ Come Back Again?”
Sources and Acknowledgments.
Bibliography.
Index.
About the Author :
RON RAPOPORT is an award-winning sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and sports commentator for National Public Radio's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. He is the author of See How She Runs: Marion Jones and the Making of a Champion, the coauthor of Betty Garrett and Other Songs: A Life on Stage and Screen, and the editor of A Kind of Grace: A Treasury of Sportswriting by Women.
Review :
"A thorough biography of Jones. Solid reporting." (St. Paul Pioneer Press) "Bobby Jones' golf Grand Slam, achieved 75 years ago, ranks among sports' greatest accomplishments… He did it, but as Ron Rapoport discovered… not without a great deal of suffering, mental and physical." (USA Today)
"The Immortal Bobby is a well-researched and unvarnished biography of Jones by Ron Rapoport, a Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist and National Public Radio commentator. Rapoport excels at adding sociological context to Jones' achievements." (GolfWeek)
There are several Bobby Jones books out this spring commemorating the 75th anniversary of his 1930 Grand Slam, but none so far is better researched, or told with greater detail, than this one by Rapoport, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times. Rapoport recounts the more fascinating details of Jones' life after doing scores of interviews and poring over the golfer's many correspondences. Jones was a prolific writer; in fact, his own accounts of his golf matches occasionally appeared in the next day's paper. Rapoport says he "discovered a disparity between the man and the myth that was not always so simple." He recounts that despite his gentlemanly image, Jones could hold a fearsome grudge, as he did against fellow pro Chick Evans, whose every attempt at reconciliation was rebuffed. As for 1930, Rapoport brings much of the detail of the Grand Slam quest back to life. Forgotten, until now, are the numerous near-disasters and the internal turmoil that make Jones' ultimate triumph all the more admirable. (San Diego Union-Tribune)
