Frank Shorter
America's last male Olympic marathon gold medalist tells us how the medal came to happen and much more, from unhappy childhood through life after championships, when he founded and chaired the Anti-Doping Agency and became an advocate for abused children. It's an admirable autobiography with lots of running.
His father was a kindly, devoted family doctor by day and a sadist by night. His wife and kids suffered misery that no human being deserves to suffer. Frank escaped the cycle by somehow recognizing that this wasn't right--that he didn't deserve this and it wasn't his fault. So many victims of abusers grow up confused and self-hating, but he did not--and that was only one of the miracles that was Frank Shorter.
I understand his unwillingness to involve his siblings in this highly personal memoir, but I wish he had spoken of them more and of his mother. I believe they were still alive at the time of writing. But that didn't mean he had to completely suppress what he thought about them--the most he told was that as he grew older he tried to distract his father from the 'punishments'; to keep the man happy so he wouldn't stomp upstairs full of rage at the alleged misdeeds of his chosen victim. Mr. Shorter documents this in flat, unemotional prose, this but doesn't go into his feelings at the time. I wonder if he feels guilty about being able to escape and leaving his brothers and sisters behind--he mentions that and is sorry about it, but doesn't dwell on it. He doesn't dwell on anything--he's the most positive person I ever read about! (Hurray!)
And the running, running and more running made the book for me. I could have enjoyed more running, but I wasn't disappointed. A great man who never gave up--that's all the inspiration I can ask.
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