Synopses & Reviews
Waterman is the first comprehensive biography of Duke Kahanamoku (1890andndash;1968): swimmer, surfer, Olympic gold medalist, Hawaiian icon, waterman.
Long before Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz made their splashes in the pool, Kahanamoku emerged from the backwaters of Waikiki to become Americaandrsquo;s first superstar Olympic swimmer. The original andldquo;human fishandrdquo; set dozens of world records and topped the world rankings for more than a decade; his rivalry with Johnny Weissmuller transformed competitive swimming from an insignificant sideshow into a headliner event.
Kahanamoku used his Olympic renown to introduce the sport of andldquo;surf-riding,andrdquo; an activity unknown beyond the Hawaiian Islands, to the world. Standing proudly on his traditional wooden longboard, he spread surfing from Australia to the Hollywood crowd in California to New Jersey. No American athlete has influenced two sports as profoundly as Kahanamoku did, and yet he remains an enigmatic and underappreciated figure: a dark-skinned Pacific Islander who encountered and overcame racism and ignorance long before the likes of Joe Louis, Jesse Owens, and Jackie Robinson.
Kahanamokuandrsquo;s connection to his homeland was equally important. He was born when Hawaii was an independent kingdom; he served as the sheriff of Honolulu during Pearl Harbor and World War II and as a globetrotting andldquo;Ambassador of Alohaandrdquo; afterward; he died not long after Hawaii attained statehood. As one sportswriter put it, Duke was andldquo;Babe Ruth and Jack Dempsey combined down here.andrdquo;
In Waterman, award-winning journalist David Davis examines the remarkable life of Duke Kahanamoku, in and out of the water.
Review
"Jerry Izenberg was an astute observer of the NFL’s extraordinary growth during the Pete Rozelle era. His coverage was down to earth, his sources were in the know, and he often challenged conventional wisdom. Now, with the benefit of research and reflection, Izenberg’s assessment of Rozelle and key League personalities is as hard-hitting as one might expect. . . . [Izenberg’s views are] briskly rendered, sometimes humorous, and never ambiguous."—Paul Tagliabue, former NFL Commissioner
Review
“I covered Pete Rozelle during the last six years of his reign, and sat for two extended interviews with him. But I was a piker in Rozelle-ology until I saw Jerry Izenbergs book. Read Rozelle: A Biography, and youll know not only why the NFL got gargantuan, but why Rozelle is the single biggest reason why it got so big.”—Peter King, senior writer for Sports Illustrated
Review
"Though the title of the book is simple—
Rozelle: A Biography—it is a monument, giving us an unforgettable, less-than-simple look at a life that brought us the birth of the Super Bowl and the rapid expansion of entertainment that revolutionized the culture of sports in America. . . . An outstanding read and not to be missed."
—Peter Finney,
Times-PicayuneReview
"Izenberg is from the old school, answering questions, questioning answers. It's good to read about Rozelle and the NFL's growing pains. It's even better because Izenberg did the reporting and the writing."—Stan Hochman, philly.com
Review
"All professional football fans will enjoy this well-reported biography of a seminal figure in NFL history."—John Maxymuk, Library Journal
Review
"[An] excellent biography."—Los Angeles Daily News
Review
"The book allows us to appreciate Rozelle's savvy. He always seemed to have something for everyone—you never went home hungry if you hung out with Pete."—Gerald Eskenazi, Wall Street Journal
Review
andldquo;David Davis writes a wonderful tale of this royal ambassador of alohaandmdash;effortlessly riding through a world of storms with magnanimity and grace.andrdquo;andmdash;Shaun Tomson, author of Surferandrsquo;s Code: Twelve Simple Lessons for Riding Through Life
Review
andldquo;David Davis has combined clear writing and meticulous research to present the life and times of one of the legends of Olympic history.andrdquo;andmdash;David Wallechinsky, president of the International Society of Olympic Historians
Review
andldquo;Itandrsquo;s remarkable how little we know about Duke Kahanamoku, one of the great figures in American sports history. As we discover in this book, there is much to be learned. We owe a debt of gratitude to David Davis for bringing the Dukeandrsquo;s story so thoroughly to life.andrdquo;andmdash;Bruce Jenkins, author of North Shore Chronicles: Big-Wave Surfing in Hawaii
Review
andldquo;Duke Kahanamoku unabashedly introduced his unique island mind-set and highly evolved ocean skills, all derived from the nature of his surroundings, to the world beyond Hawaii. For that, he is revered to this day.andrdquo;andmdash;Steve Pezman, publisher of theand#160;Surferandrsquo;s Journal
Review
"Izenberg's Rozelle:A Biography is an outstanding read and not to be missed."—Peter Finney, Times-Picayune
Review
"Rozelle: A Biography offers an in-depth illustration of the Rozelle’s appearance in popular culture and is useful for an understanding of his popularity—and why we now consider the commissioner such an important role in North American sport."—Andrew D. Linden, Sport in American History
Review
“Read Rozelle: A Biography, and you’ll know not only why the NFL got gargantuan, but why Rozelle is the single biggest reason why it got so big.”—Peter King, senior writer for Sports Illustrated
Synopsis
Rozelle chronicles the life and times of the architect of the modern National Football League, Pete Rozelle, who transformed football into arguably the most successful sports league in the world. While he was never considered a serious candidate for the job of NFL commissioner early on, the position ultimately catapulted Rozelle into the role through which he transformed the NFL and became a trailblazer for all sports in the second half of the twentieth century. When he became commissioner in 1960, the league had twelve teams playing to half-empty stadiums and was mired in an outdated business model. Rozelle introduced revenue and television profit sharing to guarantee the success of small-market teams and brought every NFL game to national television.
Rozelles monumental achievements include the introduction of the Super Bowl in the 60s followed by the NFLs most rapid expansion and the establishment of Monday Night Football. The 80s saw Rozelle presiding over drug scandals, labor struggles, and the leagues legal battles with team owners such as Oaklands Al Davis, who famously won a lawsuit to move his Raiders to Los Angeles.
Jerry Izenberg chronicles the iconic life of Rozelle, who revolutionized the culture of sports in America and is responsible for turning the NFL into the preeminent sports league in the world.
About the Author
David Davis is the author of Showdown at Shepherdand#8217;s Bush: The 1908 Olympic Marathon and the Three Runners Who Launched a Sporting Craze; Play by Play: Los Angeles Sports Photography, 1889and#8211;1989; and Marathon Crasher: The Life and Times of Merry Lepper, the First American Woman to Run a Marathon. His work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Smithsonian, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and in three anthologies, including The Best American Sports Writing. He lives in Los Angeles.