Althea
The Life of Tennis Champion Althea Gibson
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3.2 • 13 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
WASHINGTON POST BEST NONFICTION OF 2023
KIRKUS REVIEWS' BEST BIOGRAPHIES OF 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR
“A captivating book that brilliantly reveals an American sports legend long overlooked. Sally Jacobs tells the riveting story of Althea Gibson, my personal shero, who overcame daunting odds – on the tennis court and off - to stand at the world pinnacle of her sport and became an inspiration to many.” — Billie Jean King
In 1950, three years after Jackie Robinson first walked onto the diamond at Ebbets Field, the all-white, upper-crust US Lawn Tennis Association opened its door just a crack to receive a powerhouse player who would integrate "the game of royalty." The player was a street-savvy young Black woman from Harlem named Althea Gibson who was about as out-of-place in that rarefied and intolerant world as any aspiring tennis champion could be. Her tattered jeans and short-cropped hair drew stares from everyone who watched her play, but her astonishing performance on the court soon eclipsed the negative feelings being cast her way as she eventually became one of the greatest American tennis champions.
Gibson had a stunning career. Raised in New York and trained by a pair of tennis-playing doctors in the South, Gibson’s immense talent on the court opened the door for her to compete around the world. She won top prizes at Wimbledon and Forest Hills time and time again. The young woman underestimated by so many wound up shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II, being driven up Broadway in a snowstorm of ticker tape, and ultimately became the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the second to appear on the cover of Time. In a crowning achievement, Althea Gibson became the No. One ranked female tennis player in the world for both 1957 and 1958. Seven years later she broke the color barrier again where she became the first Black woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).
In Althea, prize-winning former Boston Globe reporter Sally H. Jacobs tells the heart-rending story of this pioneer, a remarkable woman who was a trailblazer, a champion, and one of the most remarkable Americans of the twentieth century.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
One of history’s most overlooked Black sports heroes finally gets the star treatment in Sally H. Jacobs’ insightful biography. After a childhood of poverty and violence, Althea Gibson’s undeniable athletic talent gained her entry into the exclusive—and very white—world of tennis. But despite her on-court success, she faced questions about her sexuality and backlash among Black people for her reluctance to speak out against racism. The level of detail that Jacobs provides makes you feel like you have a courtside seat as Gibson navigates a brutally difficult era in the history of women’s tennis. Like too many of her trailblazer peers, Gibson never received the level of recognition she deserved, and it’s heartbreaking to read about her later struggles. But while not much is easy about Gibson’s story, Jacobs holds the conservative, patriarchal sports world that she fought against accountable. Althea restores a key figure of 20th-century sports to her rightful place of honor.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Journalist Jacobs (The Other Barack) offers an affecting biography of Althea Gibson (1927–2003), the "first Black woman to be the number-one tennis player in the world." Growing up in Harlem, Gibson suffered frequent beatings by her father and was by the age of 13 among the neighborhood's "toughest streetfighters." Her fortunes changed when Buddy Walker, a saxophonist who also worked with city police to supervise kids playing on the streets, noticed her athleticism and bought her two tennis rackets. Chronicling Gibson's ascent to the top of the sport, Jacobs covers how the wealthy backers of Harlem's Black Cosmopolitan Tennis Club rallied behind her, eager to "sponsor a member of their group who showed promise," which led to her winning several national tournaments and becoming the first African American player to compete at the U.S. Open and Wimbledon, where she won singles titles in 1957. Jacobs emphasizes the difficulties Gibson faced during and after her tennis career, including discrimination from the tennis establishment (many speculated the decision to leave her off the 1956 American Whiteman Cup team was driven by racism) and constant financial struggles—because women's tennis had not yet become lucrative, for the first eight years of Gibson's career she "earned so little money that she had never once had to file a tax return." Thoroughly researched and movingly told, this warts-and-all portrayal of Gibson's life is a winner.
Customer Reviews
The title is big and bold, you can see it right away.
Tennis is one of my favorite things to do and I think this book is very good and detailed in the writing.I love this author and I love Althea so much!