Kelly: A Father, a Son, an American Quest

by Daniel J Boyne, Daniel Boyne

Overview

The inspiring story of Jack Kelly, the son of Irish immigrants who grew up along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia at the turn of the 20th century and became a three-time gold medal Olympian, a political maverick, and the millionaire father of a princess.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780939511235
Publisher:	Applewood Books
Publication date:	01/01/1901
Series:	Mystic Seaport
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.95(d)

About the Author

Daniel J. Boyne is the author of Kelly: A Father, a Son, an American Quest(Mystic), The Red Rose Crew: A True Story of Women, Winning and the Water (Hyperion/Lyons), and Essential Sculling (The Lyons Press). He has also written articles for The Atlantic Monthly, Harvard Magazine, Double Take, Wooden Boat, and Gray's Sporting Journal, among others. Most of his writing has concerned itself with the interplay between sport and society, and he has often focused on groups or individuals who have used sport as a means to change their social status.

Editorial Reviews

In a time when rowing rivaled boxing and baseball in popularity, Jack Kelly (1889-1960) was its greatest champion. In this attractive illustrated biography, sports and society writer Boyne (The Red Rose Crew: A True Story of Women, Winning and the Water) chronicles Kelly's rise from modest beginnings as the son of Irish immigrants to Olympic gold, a journey that left him both triumphant and bitter. Boyne makes a compelling argument that Kelly's rowing acumen was directly related to his other major physical pursuit, bricklaying, which he took up at age eighteen: "a perfect exercise for strengthening your hands, wrists and forearms." That and years of training on Philadelphia's Schuylkill River made Kelly the fastest rower in the world, but prejudice barred him from England's prestigious Henley Regatta. That sleight, never forgotten, lead him to push his son Kell into the sport, and ultimately to win the Regatta in 1947. An obvious labor of love, the book is so fond of its subject that it reads at times like a tall tale-Kelly even saves a woman from a burning building-but even so, it's a fine portrait of two Olympic champions and their remarkable family, including Jack's daughter Grace, and theater stars Walter and George.
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