On Friday, April 14 at 5:00 pm, join us for the fun when A Literary Cocktail Hour presents Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and author David Maraniss and his new book A Path Lit By Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe. Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. He won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw's New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind. But as a Native, a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he encountered duplicitous authorities who turned away from him when their reputations were at risk. At Carlisle, he dealt with the racist assimilationist philosophy "Kill the Indian, Save the Man." Later, his gold medals were unfairly rescinded because he had played minor league baseball and his life was troubled by alcohol, broken marriages, and financial distress. But he survived it all. David will be in conversation with Brattleboro Lit Fest President of the Board Bob Parks and the event will be open for audience questions. To register for this free online webinar event, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_IsOuHu7YTUaYJDZl0djWfA#/registration
David Maraniss is a New York Times best-selling author of 13 books, a fellow of the Society of American Historians, and visiting distinguished professor at Vanderbilt University. He has been affiliated with the Washington Post for more than forty years as an editor and writer, and twice won Pulitzer Prizes at the newspaper.