Babe: The Life and Legend of Babe Didrikson Zaharias

by Susan E. Cayleff

Book Overview

An extraordinarily gifted athlete, Babe Didrikson Zaharias starred in track and field and won three Olympic medals in 1932. She picked up golf late yet quickly dominated the women's sport. She also competed in baseball, bowling, basketball, and tennis.

Interviews with members of Babe's family, peers, and others inform Susan E. Cayleff's story of the athlete and the difficulties she faced as a woman trying to be her own person. The American...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 025206593X
• ISBN13: 9780252065934
• Release Date: May 1996
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Well written,sensitive book about superb athlete

THis is one of the best sports biographies I have read.Its very well written, very unbiased,sensitive and portrays an accurate picture of this amazing human being. Its also a fun read and reveals a side of the Babe,her pranks,egocentric often annoying style, that few knew.In my mind she surely was the greatest woman,s athlete and this book truly does her justice.You won,t be disappointed

Interesting Read of Champion Who Doesn't Get Enough PR

Amazing champion this lady was. Her accomplishments in a short life are dazzling. Like many others naturally gifted with athleticism and a burning desire to compete and win, Babe did just that.This is well written, but suffers from my own perspective with an underlying desire to document how cruel and unmodern Babe's cultural times were to not allow lesbian relationships to be openly exposed and women to be subjected to conformity.We live in just the reversal, where abnormality shines brightly as acceptable or even desirable, and where has this sexual revolution gotten our society? Babe loved the game of golf, and my interest was primarily in this achievement area of her career. She should deserve more recognition as one of the game's truly greats!

Good.

Since I am from Beaumont, Texas (South Park) and a fan of the BABE, I found the book a very interesting read. I was unaware of the Babe's relationship with Betty Dodd; however, I feel that an individual's sexual life is their own business. I can't help but wonder how the author could have been sure of their special relationship without ever being in the same bedroom with them??? Changing her colostomy bag is hardly a sexual act, but the type of action from a nurse, close relative or friend.

The work of a gifted writer and teacher who did her homework

As a former student of Dr. Susan Cayleff, I found the book to be a wonderful and informative read. Knowing Dr. Cayleff and her constant search for truth and knowledge of women and their accomplishments, this book is one more testament to her thoroughness, her brilliance as an academic, and the passions that she imbues in her students - - the fire of wanting to know more about women,who and what they are, who and what they have been, and who and what they can become. Anything that Dr. Cayleff writes stands as witness to her intellect, her love of the written word, and her desire to spread the joyous news of women's feats and accomplishments. Is it any wonder that this book was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize? Keep them coming Susan. The next one will be terrific too, after all, I had the opportunity to be one of your research assistants for the next book. Thank you for all of it, the books, the awareness that you instilled and inspired in so many of your students and readers, for your caring about humanity in general, and women in particular.

A great analysis of Babe's life, times, & women's sports

Cayleff has thoroughly researched and documented Babe's life and times. She conducted extensive interviews with surviving members of Babe's family, friends, and partner (Betty Dodd). Cayleff also incorporated massive amounts of journalistic accounts--sports writers, magazines accounts, etc. This is not a fluff biography--the book will teach you about what it meant to be a woman in Babe's time, what it meant to be a female athlete, and how Babe managed--and manipulated--these things. Babe fans will learn more about her, and scholars will be able to follow up on Cayleff's work through her extensive endnotes. This is the first book to tell of Babe's relationship with Betty Dodd, but Cayleff does not label it "lesbian." That is because Babe herself never did. Remember that this was the 1950s. They were life partners, spouses. The loved each other. Cayleff's book is important for bringing this relationship to light, as well as many other hidden realities of Didrikson's life--her heroism as an "out" cancer patient (when it was taboo to talk about it), as well as how Babe manipulated the press. As dozens of published book review has stated (see quotes above at this cite), this is absolutely THE most extensive research ever done on Babe. I've seen rave reviews of the book in SOJOURNER, WEST COAST WOMAN, WOMEN'S REVIEW OF BOOKS, and SPORTS HISTORY REVIEW, among many others.