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Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe
A biography of America's greatest all-around athlete that "goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe's life, using extensive research, historical nuance, and bittersweet honesty" (Los Angeles Times), by the bestselling author of the classic biography When Pride Still Mattered.
Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he 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 despite his awesome talent, Thorpe's life was a struggle against the odds. At Carlisle, he faced the racist assimilationist philosophy "Kill the Indian, Save the Man." His gold medals were unfairly rescinded because he had played minor league baseball, and his supposed allies turned away from him when their own reputations were at risk. His later life was troubled by alcohol, broken marriages, and financial distress. He roamed from state to state and took bit parts in Hollywood, but even the film of his own life failed to improve his fortunes. But for all his travails, Thorpe survived, determined to shape his own destiny, his perseverance becoming another mark of his mythic stature.
Path Lit by Lightning "[reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss" (The Wall Street Journal).
Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he 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 despite his awesome talent, Thorpe's life was a struggle against the odds. At Carlisle, he faced the racist assimilationist philosophy "Kill the Indian, Save the Man." His gold medals were unfairly rescinded because he had played minor league baseball, and his supposed allies turned away from him when their own reputations were at risk. His later life was troubled by alcohol, broken marriages, and financial distress. He roamed from state to state and took bit parts in Hollywood, but even the film of his own life failed to improve his fortunes. But for all his travails, Thorpe survived, determined to shape his own destiny, his perseverance becoming another mark of his mythic stature.
Path Lit by Lightning "[reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss" (The Wall Street Journal).
Editorial Reviews
"A masterful, in-depth portrait of a monumental figure." -- Louis Moore ― The Boston Globe
"Throughout a book marked by deep research and expert context-setting, [Maraniss] sifts through the myths about Thorpe and Native Americans, depicting his subject as a proud, complicated man who sought to shape his own destiny, yet was bedeviled by larger forces of racism and hypocrisy. . . . Path Lit by Lightning tells his story with skill and integrity." -- Aram Goudsouzian ― The Washington Post
"In the new biography Path Lit by Lightning, David Maraniss details the enormous odds that a Native American hero had to overcome. . . . He insists that taken as a whole, Jim Thorpe's story is not one of prejudice, nor the hypocrisy of others. . . . [And] emphasizes that whatever life took from him, Thorpe persisted and trained and worked and learned and succeeded." -- Keith Olbermann ― The New York Times Book Review
"Goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe's life, using extensive research, historical nuance and bittersweet honesty to tell the story of a gifted and complicated man. . . . Maraniss' biography does justice to the struggles and triumphs of a truly great man." -- Mary Ann Gwinn ― Los Angeles Times
"Path Lit by Lightning showcases Mr. Maraniss's abilities as an indefatigable researcher and a deft prose stylist. . . . [Reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss." -- Andrew R. Graybill ― The Wall Street Journal
"David Maraniss brilliantly rescues Jim Thorpe from myth and prejudice, restoring something more consequential than the Olympic medals stolen from him by small men-his humanity. This is another masterpiece from the master of biography." -- Jane Leavy, author of The Big Fella and Koufax
"In different hands I might be dubious, but David Maraniss revives the titanic Jim Thorpe for a new generation with a surgeon's care, the diligence of a great researcher, and the poignance and humanity that is the signature of his writing. Path Lit By Lightning is a masterful look at this country's first super-athlete, unflinching from what conquest did to his people, from the rousing and bittersweet journey of fame and iden...
"Throughout a book marked by deep research and expert context-setting, [Maraniss] sifts through the myths about Thorpe and Native Americans, depicting his subject as a proud, complicated man who sought to shape his own destiny, yet was bedeviled by larger forces of racism and hypocrisy. . . . Path Lit by Lightning tells his story with skill and integrity." -- Aram Goudsouzian ― The Washington Post
"In the new biography Path Lit by Lightning, David Maraniss details the enormous odds that a Native American hero had to overcome. . . . He insists that taken as a whole, Jim Thorpe's story is not one of prejudice, nor the hypocrisy of others. . . . [And] emphasizes that whatever life took from him, Thorpe persisted and trained and worked and learned and succeeded." -- Keith Olbermann ― The New York Times Book Review
"Goes beyond the myth and into the guts of Thorpe's life, using extensive research, historical nuance and bittersweet honesty to tell the story of a gifted and complicated man. . . . Maraniss' biography does justice to the struggles and triumphs of a truly great man." -- Mary Ann Gwinn ― Los Angeles Times
"Path Lit by Lightning showcases Mr. Maraniss's abilities as an indefatigable researcher and a deft prose stylist. . . . [Reveals] Thorpe as a man in full, whose life was characterized by both soaring triumph and grievous loss." -- Andrew R. Graybill ― The Wall Street Journal
"David Maraniss brilliantly rescues Jim Thorpe from myth and prejudice, restoring something more consequential than the Olympic medals stolen from him by small men-his humanity. This is another masterpiece from the master of biography." -- Jane Leavy, author of The Big Fella and Koufax
"In different hands I might be dubious, but David Maraniss revives the titanic Jim Thorpe for a new generation with a surgeon's care, the diligence of a great researcher, and the poignance and humanity that is the signature of his writing. Path Lit By Lightning is a masterful look at this country's first super-athlete, unflinching from what conquest did to his people, from the rousing and bittersweet journey of fame and iden...
Readers Top Reviews
Bill Humber
Brilliant storytelling though a little depressing in the last half of his life (that's not the author's fault - it is what it is). If only Pop Warner had claimed Thorpe remained an amateur during his minor league baseball days doing so at Warner's request so Thorpe could play football at Carlisle in the future. He could have said all proceeds received were used to cover Thorpe's accommodation, travel and food. It wouldn't have been true but it might have confused the matter enough to have blown over as an issue. Instead he threw Thorpe under the bus by admitting the athlete's guilt and the result was foretold.
Francis O WalkerB
The first half of this biography is written with tempo and pace worthy of the lightening quick moves and remarkable athletic records of its subject. The second half of the book reconstructs, in overdone detail, the subject’s recurrent pattern of hustles, broken dreams, inconstancy and lack of direction. While it makes ample allowance for the tragic flaws of its main character it reads like an exposé of them in organizations and individuals whose paths crossed Thorpe. Noteworthy journalists are spared, except those whose prose is politically incorrect, the citations of which are heralded by spoiler alerts. Despite its excessive prose and editorializing, the book accurately portrays the remarkable strengths and recurring weakness of Jim Thorpe as well as those of the country in which he was born. It is also a noteworthy record of global celebrities of the first half of the twentieth century—many who seemed to have made his acquaintance. Recommended for those with an interest in sports and twentieth century Native American history.
Bill EmblomFranci
Whew! It took quite a bit of time for me to pioneer my way through this book. By the time I hit page 400 I began skimming parts of the book because of its length and way too much detail. As one reviewer posted he felt the story could have been told just as well had it been shorter. To me 400 pages would have been sufficient and the emphasis on detail caused me to lose some interest. I can't imagine a future attempt on a book of Jim Thorpe to be more thorough than this one. Jim Thorpe's unique athletic ability took place when he pole vaulted in his overalls when not even having taken part in any athletic activity. A feeling of wonder of all wonders, "What have we here?" His experiences at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania was one in which the school wanted to take the Indian out of the individual and change them into a White man's culture. Thorpe's football coach at the school was none other than the legendary Pop Warner who the youth football program is named after. Author Maraniss doesn't speak very favorably of Pop Warner who sprouted profanities at his players and claimed to be unaware of Thorpe's taking part in a few minor league baseball games during the summer months to earn some money. This eventually resulted in Thorpe losing the trophies he won at the 1912 Olympic game held in Stockholm, Sweden. It wasn't that Thorpe was trying to hide the fact that he played some minor league games since he didn't even attempt to change his name when he played. The king of Sweden told him, "You are the greatest athlete in the world." Those who finished second to Thorpe in the Olympics refused to accept the medals that Thorpe had won. Avery Brundage was a fellow athlete with Thorpe at Carlisle and as long as he lived Brundage, now in charge of the Olympics, refused to assist in helping Thorpe's family in having the medals restored. Only after the death of Thorpe and Brundage were replicas of Thorpe's medals restored to the family but the bronze pentathlon bust and silver decathlon Viking ship that Thorpe won remained at the Olympic headquarters in Switzerland. Jim Thorpe made an attempt at major league baseball with the New York Giants under the legendary John McGraw. Author Maraniss correctly feels that Thorpe's baseball career was backwards because rather than spend time in a lower league to learn his craft he was forced to spend most of his time on the bench as a spectator and, I might add, as a drawing card. Following Thorpe's death in 1953 following several heart attacks controversy took place as to where Thorpe's remains were to be buried. Children wanted him buried in his native Oklahoma while his third wife chose an area of Pennsylvania Thorpe had never visited. Jim Thorpe reminded me of a poem written by A. E. Housman in which some athletes became "runners whom renown outran and the name died b...
