To tell the story of someone's life is quite an undertaking. When that someone is baseball legend Ted Williams, it's a combination of duty and honor. A duty to be true to both the hero and the reality , and an honor to write a draft of history.
Author Ben Bradlee Jr. started working on the autobiography "The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams" in 2002, taking a leave of absence from his position as Deputy Managing Editor of the Boston Globe as he began research. Once the enormity of the project was evident, Bradlee resigned the position to work on the book exclusively.
Having conducted more than 600 interviews, and researched thousands of newspaper articles covering Williams' career, it's no surprise it took Bradlee ten years to complete the book. Just sorting through the astounding baseball stats of "the greatest hitter who ever lived", understanding Williams' volatile anger and it's impact on his relationships, as well as his wartime service in both World War II and the Korean War which interrupted his baseball career, was certainly a full-time job.
In our interview with Ben Bradlee Jr., we discuss the details he uncovered about Williams, such as his Mexican heritage which he chose to conceal in order to maintain a professional baseball career , his time as a Marine Corps fighter pilot, his pride and profanity, his focus on helping sick children raising millions of dollars for the Jimmy Fund, for cancer care and research, all the way through to his death, at which point his children made the controversial decision to have his remain cryonically frozen and preserved.
If you remember the glory days of baseball or marvel over the phenomenal ability of baseball's greatest hitter - don't miss this interview as well as a chance to win a copy of the book! Along with this week's show, ICOSA is giving away fifty copies of "The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams". To enter the giveaway, just email us at [email protected] and tell us about your love for baseball or memories of Ted Williams career. We will pick our favorite entries and share them on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/IcosaRadio.
Listen Saturday at 10:00 AM on KNUS 710 – Please let us know what you think of our program, either by commenting here or on Facebook at Connect & Collaborate with ICOSA or join the discussion on Twitter @ICOSAMagazine.