Ebook Arthur Ashe A Life Raymond Arsenault 9781439189054 Books
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A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
A “thoroughly captivating biography” (The San Francisco Chronicle) of American icon Arthur Ashe—the Jackie Robinson of men’s tennis—a pioneering athlete who, after breaking the color barrier, went on to become an influential civil rights activist and public intellectual.
Born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1943, by the age of eleven, Arthur Ashe was one of the state’s most talented black tennis players. He became the first African American to play for the US Davis Cup team in 1963, and two years later he won the NCAA singles championship. In 1968, he rose to a number one national ranking. Turning professional in 1969, he soon became one of the world’s most successful tennis stars, winning the Australian Open in 1970 and Wimbledon in 1975. After retiring in 1980, he served four years as the US Davis Cup captain and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985.
In this “deep, detailed, thoughtful chronicle” (The New York Times Book Review), Raymond Arsenault chronicles Ashe’s rise to stardom on the court. But much of the book explores his off-court career as a human rights activist, philanthropist, broadcaster, writer, businessman, and celebrity. In the 1970s and 1980s, Ashe gained renown as an advocate for sportsmanship, education, racial equality, and the elimination of apartheid in South Africa. But from 1979 on, he was forced to deal with a serious heart condition that led to multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, one of which left him HIV-positive. After devoting the last ten months of his life to AIDS activism, Ashe died in February 1993 at the age of forty-nine, leaving an inspiring legacy of dignity, integrity, and active citizenship.
Based on prodigious research, including more than one hundred interviews, Arthur Ashe puts Ashe in the context of both his time and the long struggle of African-American athletes seeking equal opportunity and respect, and “will serve as the standard work on Ashe for some time” (Library Journal, starred review).
Ebook Arthur Ashe A Life Raymond Arsenault 9781439189054 Books
"Noted civil rights historian Raymond Arsenault has created a posthumous paean to Arthur Ashe. One of the most storied figures in sports, Ashe was a great competitor and a human rights activist, first by circumstance and then very much by choice.
For the price of $22.50, not an easy sum for a struggling family to come up with, world-renowned champion-to-be Arthur Ashe began his career with a cheap tennis racket. By age eight, he showed so much promise that a skilled tennis coach took him under his wing, and by age 25 he had “all the attributes of celebrity but one: money.†These remarkable happenings were centered on a young man who, as a child, had been so small and frail that almost any childhood illness might have wiped his name from the pages of history. He grew up, getting taller and stronger but always projecting a gentle, relaxed physical stance (except when tearing up an opponent on the tennis court) and genteel, well-articulated, morally purposed ethics.
The ethics were the product of his impoverished upbringing as a dark-skinned son of the American South, a member of the black underclass in the former capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia. His father had made his way as a house servant for several prominent Jewish families, and then as caretaker for a large black park that included tennis courts. After his mother died, tennis seemed to fill a void in Ashe's life. When he couldn’t participate in local matches because of the color bar, he was supported in taking lessons and competing in other locations. He gradually climbed to the top of the game.
With many firsts and a life that put him in direct contact with the greats of the sports world and others on the big stage, Ashe is a profound subject for any biographer, and Arsenault spent nine years on this exploration of the man who was the first and still the only black man to win singles championships at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open. Owing to his upbringing in a racially tense atmosphere, Ashe learned to choose his words carefully, but would become a fierce supporter of anti-apartheid initiatives in South Africa and, of course, racial integration in his homeland. He was arrested twice for his role as an advocate for the rights of South Africans and Haitian refugees. After contracting AIDS from blood transfusions, he started the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and later the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health.
Arsenault has worked through interviews with those who knew Ashe, and also with Ashe’s own extensive personal writings, so that the man’s voice is heard again. This thorough account naturally will be of particular interest to sports fans, as the author assiduously takes readers through the star’s career and his matches with all the great players of the day. His likeness appeared on a US postage stamp, but perhaps fighter Mike Tyson displayed the “most exotic†tribute --- a tattoo of Ashe on his arm, denoting his wish to be more like his hero.
Arsenault's book has the power to invade the hearts of those who did not experience the American Civil Rights movement directly. The many large and small ways that racial segregation could poison good lives and hurt innocent people --- as seen through Ashe’s eyes --- comprise a cache of knowledge that needs to be shared, noted and remembered.
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott"
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Tags : Arthur Ashe A Life [Raymond Arsenault] on . <b>A NEW YORK TIMES </i>NOTABLE BOOK</b><BR> <BR><b>A “thoroughly captivating biography” ( The San Francisco Chronicle</i>) of American icon Arthur Ashe—the Jackie Robinson of men’s tennis—a pioneering athlete who,Raymond Arsenault,Arthur Ashe A Life,Simon Schuster,1439189056,BIOGRAPHY AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Sports,BLACKS AND SPORTS,Biography,Biography/Autobiography,Biography general,Biography sport,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY / United States / 20th Century,History/United States - 20th Century,Non-Fiction,SPORTS RECREATION / Tennis,Sports Recreation/Tennis,Tennis,U.S. HISTORY - 20TH CENTURY (GENERAL),United States,Raymond Arsenault; Arthur Ashe; Grand Slam; Davis Cup; Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS; Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health; Robert Walter Johnson; World Championship Tennis; Wimbledon; Jimmy Connors; Ilie Nastase; Bjorn Borg; Association of Tennis Professionals; A Hard Road to Glory; Days of Grace; International Tennis Hall of Fame; Arthur Ashe Stadium; United States Tennis Association (USTA); U.S. Open; Stan Smith; UCLA; Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe; Australian Open; AIDS; HIV; Richmond, VA,Raymond Arsenault; Arthur Ashe; Grand Slam; Davis Cup; Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS; Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health; Robert Walter Johnson; World Championship Tennis; Wimbledon; Jimmy Connors; Ilie Nastase; Bjorn Borg; Association of Tennis Professionals; A Hard Road to Glory; Days of Grace; International Tennis Hall of Fame; Arthur Ashe Stadium; United States Tennis Association (USTA); U.S. Open; Stan Smith; UCLA; Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe; Australian Open; AIDS; HIV; Richmond, VA;
Arthur Ashe A Life Raymond Arsenault 9781439189054 Books Reviews :
Arthur Ashe A Life Raymond Arsenault 9781439189054 Books Reviews
- What a wonderful human being and tennis player
- This book was extremely detailed and a bit too much for most readers.
- Around page 370, the book jumps over 30 pages to page 402, and the intervening pages are stuck further back in the book. Makes it confusing and you have to read with two book marks. Unfortunately this was a gift.
- Noted civil rights historian Raymond Arsenault has created a posthumous paean to Arthur Ashe. One of the most storied figures in sports, Ashe was a great competitor and a human rights activist, first by circumstance and then very much by choice.
For the price of $22.50, not an easy sum for a struggling family to come up with, world-renowned champion-to-be Arthur Ashe began his career with a cheap tennis racket. By age eight, he showed so much promise that a skilled tennis coach took him under his wing, and by age 25 he had “all the attributes of celebrity but one money.†These remarkable happenings were centered on a young man who, as a child, had been so small and frail that almost any childhood illness might have wiped his name from the pages of history. He grew up, getting taller and stronger but always projecting a gentle, relaxed physical stance (except when tearing up an opponent on the tennis court) and genteel, well-articulated, morally purposed ethics.
The ethics were the product of his impoverished upbringing as a dark-skinned son of the American South, a member of the black underclass in the former capital of the Confederacy, Richmond, Virginia. His father had made his way as a house servant for several prominent Jewish families, and then as caretaker for a large black park that included tennis courts. After his mother died, tennis seemed to fill a void in Ashe's life. When he couldn’t participate in local matches because of the color bar, he was supported in taking lessons and competing in other locations. He gradually climbed to the top of the game.
With many firsts and a life that put him in direct contact with the greats of the sports world and others on the big stage, Ashe is a profound subject for any biographer, and Arsenault spent nine years on this exploration of the man who was the first and still the only black man to win singles championships at Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open. Owing to his upbringing in a racially tense atmosphere, Ashe learned to choose his words carefully, but would become a fierce supporter of anti-apartheid initiatives in South Africa and, of course, racial integration in his homeland. He was arrested twice for his role as an advocate for the rights of South Africans and Haitian refugees. After contracting AIDS from blood transfusions, he started the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and later the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health.
Arsenault has worked through interviews with those who knew Ashe, and also with Ashe’s own extensive personal writings, so that the man’s voice is heard again. This thorough account naturally will be of particular interest to sports fans, as the author assiduously takes readers through the star’s career and his matches with all the great players of the day. His likeness appeared on a US postage stamp, but perhaps fighter Mike Tyson displayed the “most exotic†tribute --- a tattoo of Ashe on his arm, denoting his wish to be more like his hero.
Arsenault's book has the power to invade the hearts of those who did not experience the American Civil Rights movement directly. The many large and small ways that racial segregation could poison good lives and hurt innocent people --- as seen through Ashe’s eyes --- comprise a cache of knowledge that needs to be shared, noted and remembered.
Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott - "Arthur Ashe - A Life" is a brilliantly written book that takes you deep inside a life that still brings change today. This biography will open your eyes and heart. It will instill hope and dreams. It will give your brain a workout in what's going on today around the world and how things can change, when needed. It will prove to you how special one person is and how that person can help you see your dreams.
Pick up a copy and serve yourself a ball. Maybe it will bring you to your dreams. - Arthur Ashe - A Life - is more than a biography of Arthur. It is a riveting story of grace and valor, with a historical richness for anyone who is interested in the game of tennis. Personally, as I approach my 70th year on the tennis court, Arsenault’s book revealed secrets about tennis’ past, present and future. Not only did I get to know Arthur Ashe and his family, but also the real inside stories of Donald Dell, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe, Tony Trabert and a host of other people who have made tennis what it is. A must read for every tennis enthusiast.
- As I close this novel, I can only hope for a future where racism will only be known through a history book. Inciteful, inspiring and well written.
