A review by disasterchick
Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss

4.0

Jim Thorpe was a once in a lifetime athlete. He was an Olympian in Track and Field, a professional baseball player, and a professional football player. Reading this biography makes me wonder if we should be so specialized. Maraniss also had perfect timing for this very detailed book as it was announced July 2022 - 110 years later - that Thorpe was being reinstated as the sole winner of the pentathlon and the decathlon from the 1912 Stockholm games. It only took 110 years with people constantly pushing to make it happen. There are many stories on Thorpe and it can be questionable about what is truth and what is fictional legend. However, it seems that many that have greatness contain a flaw that prevents them from their full potential and Thorpe did not allude this. Thorpe's weakness seems to be alcohol and maybe women. Not only is this a biography on Thorpe, but this goes into racism and politics of the time to give the reader an understanding of that Thorpe had to navigate.

How did this book find me? I had been seeing it quite a bit on line and just seemed to be directed to read it. Also the news of his reinstatement as the sole winner of the 1912 Olympic decathlon and pentathlon has recently made the news. I also got to meet Billy Mills, another Native American that won the 10,ooo meter run in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Mills is a very kind man and has been quoted many times talking about Thorpe.