Path Lit By Lightning: The Life Of Jim Thorpe, Maraniss - Inc.

                        "Born in 1887, in the Indian Territory of what later became Oklahoma, Thorpe was the quintessential underdog who rose from nowhere to become the greatest athlete in the world, the Natural who could do anything on the fields of play. He was an Olympic champion decathlete in track and field, a football All-American, a star pro and first president of what would become the National Football League, and a Major League Baseball player...also a graceful ballroom dancer and a gifted swimmer and ice skater." His sixty-five year lifespan encompassed a period where America tried to assimilate the Native Americans and make them white. "For all of his troubles, whether caused by outside forces or of his own doing, Jim Thorpe did not succumb. He did not vanish into whiteness. The man survived, complications and all, and so did the myth."

                        In the year of his birth, forced assimilation of the Indians became national policy. The Sac and Fox reservation where he was born consisted of half a million acres and would be reduced to a quarter of that in five years. Life at home was somewhat volatile as his dad, Hiram, "had a thirst for liquor and for women." His mother, Charlotte, was a stabilizing force who spoke French, English and two Indian languages, and who adhered to her Catholic faith. Jim and his twin Charlie were seven when they were sent away to school. Three years later, Charlie died of typhoid fever. Jim then went to the Haskell School in Lawrence, Kansas where, among other things, he first played football. In 1902, his mother died in childbirth. Two years later, he arrived at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, "the flagship school of the Indian Bureau." Hiram soon also passed away. Carlisle was a high school academically, and a college athletically. Thorpe first caught everyone's attention by casually exceeding the school record in the high jump while in workmen's clothing. He was soon playing halfback on the football team as well as competing in track and field. The 1908 season saw him named a 3rd string All-American. The following summer he was playing minor league baseball in the East Carolina league. He worked in Oklahoma over the winter and returned to Carolina in 1910. He returned to Carlisle for a one defeat season and first string All-American honors in 1911. He was a nationally honored athlete.  In the spring, he trained for the Olympics.

                      Of the 174 Americans who sailed to Stockholm, there were two from Carlisle, Jim and a Hopi long distance runner, Lewis Tewanima. During the opening weekend, he crushed the field in the Pentathlon and received his first gold medal.* The next day Tewanima took a silver in the 10,000 meters.

                       There is something here not working for me. It's probably a combination of sympathy for individuals who fall by the wayside after their years in the spotlight and, more importantly, the fact that the author goes way too deep on many peripheral topics. 

*The Stockholm Olympics were the last where the gold medals were actually gold.