The Best that I Can Be: An Autobiography

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Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Galilee Trade (August 17, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0385487614
ISBN-13: 978-0385487610
Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

After Rafer Johnson abandoned the Texas slums for the idyllic but all-white California town of Kingsburg, he adopted the rallying cry of "be the best that I can be." This cry defines the young African American's character and drives Johnson through racism and poverty to stardom on the track field at UCLA and to a dramatic Olympic gold in 1960. It helps him work graveyard shifts and serve burgers, as he trains for the grueling 10-event decathlon. And it spurs Johnson to run faster, leap higher, and throw farther than any other decathlete in history, despite injury, fatigue, and political pressure from cold war governments. (At a 1958 meet in Moscow, his "summit meeting" with Russian decathlete Vasily Kuznetsov is labeled as the clash of Communism versus the free world.) But it's Rafer's wealth of accomplishments off the track that make this modestly recounted memoir one that must be told. His colorful life includes a stint as a Hollywood actor, a brief broadcasting career, friendships with Tom Brokaw, Muhammad Ali, and Marlon Brando, and a fling with feminist Gloria Steinem. Even more intriguing is his intimate relationship with the Kennedy family that sadly derails when Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated. Rafer--who helped wrestle the gun away from Sirhan Sirhan--is deeply affected by his friend's death, but plows forward to champion goodwill projects such as Eunice Kennedy's Special Olympics. It's standard fare for Rafer Johnson and yet another example of his commitment to be the best he can be. --Rob McDonald --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly For too many athletes, their best is merely physical. For Johnson, it has been much more. In the Rome Olympics of 1960, Johnson won the Gold Medal in the decathlon, and this event informed his life and his own telling of it, as each of the 10 chapter titles here reflects one event (e.g., "Clearing the Hurdle"). His story is exactly the kind Americans love: born to a hard-working, decent but poor family in a close-knit African American community in Texas, he tried hard and succeeded spectacularly. Rome was followed by a flirtation with the movies (including John Ford's Sergeant Rutledge) and then a job in broadcasting. But most of all, he devoted his life to doing good. His early work for People to People, a worldwide exchange program, led to a meeting with Robert Kennedy, who became a good friend. Through Eunice Kennedy Shriver he founded the California Special Olympics, one of a group of causes that would include the California State Recreation Commission, the Fair Housing Congress, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Campus Crusade, the Peace Corps and HEW's Committee on Mental Retardation. Perhaps it's inevitable that race figures in his memoirs, but his tone is candid, rarely displaying rancor when recalling even recent racism or when discussing the disapproval of his interracial marriage. Over half of the book is devoted to his early life?his schooling at UCLA and his training for Rome?no doubt because it offers good narrative build up. But one senses that Johnson's modesty may have gotten in the way of describing the equally impressive life after. Editor, Eric Major; agent, Lynn Franklin. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. The Best that I Can Be: An Autobiography