Provided by Terri Schlichenmeyer
You’re a lot stronger than you think.
Physically, you can run faster, jump higher, land firmer, and throw farther than others. You take your place among the winners. Psychologically, you’re resourceful, smart, decisive, wise. You’re a lot stronger than you think, no matter what – as in the new book “Path Lit by Lightning” by David Maraniss – anybody tries to tell you.
One can almost imagine the kind of childhood that Jim Thorpe had.
He was born in Indian Territory in what is now Oklahoma in 1887 to a “wayward father” who had multiple wives. Life then was “volatile,” says Maraniss, but the Thorpe family was “better off than most,” because they had a farm with a large farmhouse. That changed shortly after the Dawes Act was passed, which allowed government distribution of Native lands to non-Native people, and the assimilation of Native Americans into Euro-American life.
Thorpe was just seven years old when his assimilation began at a “government institution.” He was introduced to football at Haskell, a school in Kansas, when he was eleven; at the end of his time there, he spent a year working in Texas before arriving at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Thorpe didn’t like Carlisle, and he didn’t generally like working on nearby farms for Carlisle’s “Outing Program.”
He ran away more than once.
Some time before he did, though, Carlisle had begun a focus on athletics, and had hired Pop Warner, a young hotshot football coach to lead the program – which meant nothing to Jim Thorpe, until…
Legend has it that Thorpe was never much for sports until one day, he was on his way from one job to another, wearing work clothes and “borrowed gym shoes” when he saw the Carlisle track team at practice. He asked if he could try the high jump and the team scoffed.
They didn’t scoff when he easily topped their best.
Neither did Coach Warner, who snatched Thorpe on the spot for his football team.
If you are a reader of certain kinds of non-fiction books, “Path Lit by Lightning” may disappoint you from the get-go.
Just by looking at it, you can tell that it’s not only about the life of athlete Jim Thorpe. No, author David Maraniss spreads his hands far and wide in a century-and-a-half tale of America, sports, and then-current events, spanning the world, politics, and injustices that are impossible to read now without cringing. This makes a great story but so wide is its presentation, that it’s almost as if there are multiple books between the covers of this volume. Readers may find that Jim Thorpe occasionally gets lost in the telling, which could be concerning for someone who prefers spare, lean biographies and just the facts.
But can you miss the delicious extras? If you prefer rail-thin biographies, that’s a decision to make. If you’re looking for a tale that sweeps around the world, though, and lands in the news just a few weeks ago, “Path Lit by Lightning” is a strong contender.
”Path Lit By Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe” by David Maraniss
c.2022, Simon & Schuster $32.50 659 pages
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.