Bricklayer Bill : the untold story of the workingman's Boston Marathon / Patrick L. Kennedy and Lawrence W. Kennedy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kennedy, Patrick L., author.

Kennedy, Lawrence W., 1952- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Kennedy, William John, 1883-1968.

Kennedy, William John.

Boston Marathon--History.

Boston Marathon.

Runners (Sports)--United States--Biography.

Runners (Sports).

History.

United States.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xv, 1 leaf, 324 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Amherst, Massachusetts : Bright Leaf, An Imprint of University of Massachusetts Press, [2017]

Summary:

Two weeks after the United States officially entered World War I, Irish American "Bricklayer Bill" Kennedy won the Boston Marathon wearing his stars-and-stripes bandana, rallying the crowd of patriotic spectators. He became an American hero and, with outrageous stories of his riding the rails and sleeping on pool tables, a racing legend whose name has since appeared in almost every book written on the famous race. When journalist Patrick Kennedy and historian Lawrence Kennedy unearthed their uncle's unpublished memoir, they discovered a colorful character who lived a tumultuous life, beyond his multiple marathons. The bricklayer survived typhoid fever, a five-story fall, auto and train accidents, World War action, Depression-era bankruptcy, decades of backbreaking work, and his own tendency to tipple. In many ways, Bill typified the newly emerging culture and working-class ethic of competitive long-distance running before it became a professionalized sport. Bricklayer Bill takes us back to another time, when bricklayers, plumbers, and printers could take the stage as star athletes. Book jacket.

Contents:

Prologue

Brickie, boxer, knickerbocker

On the road (and rails)

Strides, setbacks & laurels

"We must repel the Finns."

Over there

Paris or bust

Good times

Hard times

The road to Berlin

Go West, old man

Epilogue.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781625343062

162534306X

9781625343055

1625343051

OCLC:

1003131974