The Impossible Hero: A Life of Gordon Pirie

Booth, Dick

ISBN 10: 0953667103 / ISBN 13: 9780953667109

Published by Corsica Press, 1999

Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # wbs9754115016

Synopsis:

The censor mechanism that most of us have to control our anger and strong feelings was lacking in Gordon Pirie's make up. Thus he quickly became a rebel in the media. His outspokenness was just what reporters wanted. Booth was clearly fascinated by Pirie's character. He has thoroughly researched Pirie's life: his early family days, his early career as a club runner with South London Harriers, the glory years of his competitive career, his overseas travels in Europe and New Zealand, and his last days as a cancer patient. Booth spends 25 pages on his childhood, 155 pages on his competitive years and a rather stretched-out 85 pages on his later life of coaching. The biography is full of details and witness accounts that help get to the essence of Gordon Pirie. I particularly liked his chapter on Woldemar Gerschler, Pirie's German coach. Booth explains the club culture that nourished Pirie early on. He conveys the importance of the popular White City in Pirie's career. He demonstrates how Pirie changed the general British attitude to athletics. He explains the economics of Pirie's ambition. No doubt, Pirie was arrogant. He looked down on the world from a great height. Despite his continual need for money, he always drove a Mercedes. I can think of only two people he really respected: Emil Zatopek and Woldemar Gerschler. His impatience, combined with his inability to sublimate his strong feelings meant that he fell out with a lot of people in his life. Pirie lived his life intensely. This was especially true with his training, which he later admitted was excessive. What a contrast he is with his hero Zatopek, who was a gentle, amicable soul, beloved by many. Maybe Pirie's intensity, which surely contributed to his success, was also the flaw that prevented him from winning many big races-though I am full of admiration for his running in the Melbourne Olympics.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Impossible Hero: A Life of Gordon Pirie
Publisher: Corsica Press
Publication Date: 1999
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good