Von Erich Family Album

by Fritz Von Erich and Kirk Dooley

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0878335935
• ISBN13: 9780878335930
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Taylor Publishing Company (TX)
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Beautiful book but, sadly, not the complete story

This book showcases the "First Family of Wrestling" with hundreds of wonderful family photos, many of which are in full color. They include such things as family vacations, Christmases, birthday parties, proms, baby photos, hunting/fishing trips, as well as wrestling photos. The text covers the history of the Von Erichs, from father Jack Adkisson marriage to Doris Smith (losing his SMU scholarship in the process), to his early wrestling career (the reason for changing his name to Fritz Von Erich is not explained), to the birth of his six sons; five of whom he would outlive. The photographs reveal a happy, close-knit family, but tragedy always loomed. Fritz's first son, Jackie, drowned after a freakish accident when seven years old. His other sons followed Fritz's footsteps in the wrestling profession. In 1984, third son David, the tall cowboy, was preparing to wrestle for a world title against Ric Flair only to succumb to a ruptured intestine exacerbated by a rare stomach virus while wrestling in Japan. Kerry filled in for his brother and won the championship. Kevin, Kerry, and Mike were the most popular grapplers in the Denton County, Texas based World Class Championship Wrestling during the mid-1980s. The book, however, focuses on their family life and only briefly mentions their wrestling triumphs. Nemesis Gary Hart is pictured once but is not mentioned in the text. The book ends with Kerry's 1986 motorcycle accident and the 1987 suicide of Mike who suffered a personality change after barely surviving toxic shock syndrome. The book mentions that Kerry nearly lost his foot, of course, we find out later that Kerry did indeed lose his foot and used a prosthetic boot while in the ring. If one watches a post-accident Kerry match, one can see that one foot is stiff and does not flex at the toes. Many fans, however, did not know this until after Kerry shot himself to death in 1993. He had a stint in the WWF (the only Von Erich to do so) but the possibility of jail time for drug charges and the collapse of his marriage was too much for Kerry. His death followed that of youngest brother Chris, another suicide. Such was the so-called "Von Erich curse." As the book points out, Christianity was very important in the Von Erich household and this faith is what keeps second son Kevin strong. He has retired from wrestling and is raising four children, some of whom may follow him in a wrestling career. Fritz passed away in 1997. The book is a wonderful tribute with intimate photos and stories that can make readers believe they know the family. With hindsight, however, it is also an incredibly sad book.

decent book

the book was good, but i think certain facts were left out. also certain things were in error (birthdays and date of deaths, for example), but it was very interesting. worth every penny. it was nice to see what kind of childhoods they led, which really were no different from anyone else's. lots of great pictures, including baby pictures.