Regrettably, as Kennedy writes, the lessons were hard-won. Indeed, as the author shows, Robinson was a first in many ways-especially as the first Black player to work in MLB in the 20th century, by the design of executive Branch Rickey, who believed that the time had come for the sport to show the rest of American society the way to treat all citizens equally. When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1962, notes Kennedy, editorial director at Meredith and a former Sports Illustrated senior writer, Robinson “asked that his plaque make no mention of his role in integrating baseball.” The diffidence is curious, since Robinson famously faced court-martial while serving in the Army for refusing to vacate a bus seat reserved for Whites-10 years before Rosa Parks-and had been an active supporter of and fundraiser for the civil rights movement. These four crucial years offer a unique vision of Robinson as a player, a father and husband, and a civil rights hero-a new window on a complex man, tied to the 50th anniversary of his passing and the 75th anniversary of his professional baseball debut.An appreciative biography of Jackie Robinson (1919-1972) and his role in the integration of Major League Baseball. Kennedy examines each of these years through details not reported in previous biographies, bringing them to life in vivid prose and through interviews with fans and players who witnessed his impact, as well as with Robinson's surviving family. Through it all, Robinson remained true to the effort and the mission, true to his convictions and contradictions.
True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson by Kostya Kennedy is an unconventional biography, focusing on four transformative years in Robinson's athletic and public life: 1946, his first year playing in the essentially all-white minor leagues for the Montreal Royals 1949, when he won the Most Valuable Player Award in his third season as a Brooklyn Dodger 1956, his final season in major league baseball, when he played valiantly despite his increasing health struggles and 1972, the year of his untimely death.
But Robinson's impact extended far beyond baseball: he opened the door for Black Americans to participate in other sports, and was a national figure who spoke and wrote eloquently about inequality. Now, a half-century since Robinson's death, letters come to his widow, Rachel, by the score. Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year True is a probing, richly-detailed, unique biography of Jackie Robinson, one of baseball's-and America's-most significant figures.įor players, fans, managers, and executives, Jackie Robinson remains baseball's singular figure, the person who most profoundly extended, and continues to extend, the reach of the game.
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