Wooden & Me
by Woody Woodburn
Author's Web site:
Genre: Memoir
Reviewer: Ken McAlpine
John Robert Wooden was
teacher, mentor and friend to many, but few have gotten to the heart of Wooden
(and, with Wooden, it’s the heart that matters) like Woody Woodburn.
Woodburn’s Wooden & Me is a marriage made in writing heaven. Two men
cut from the same mid-Western cloth -- woven with integrity, honesty and a need
to do for others – Woodburn, a national award-winning columnist, and UCLA
coaching legend Wooden forged a special bond, and a friendship that lasted over
20 years.
Woodburn first met
Wooden as a youth basketball camper in 1975 and the magic begins here. But this
is not a book about basketball. Wooden’s gift was to see the bigger picture, and
Woodburn possesses the same gift. The end result is a book that moves and
motivates and makes you care about the not-so-simple values that make this world
a better place.
John Wooden’s sporting
accomplishments were almost beyond belief. His won-loss record, his NCAA
championship wins, we could list the numbers here, but Coach made little of
these accomplishments. “What was the biggest highlight of your career?” he was
once asked. “When Nellie married me,” he said. This was a man, writes Woodburn
aptly, of “rare grace.” Rare grace also sums Woodburn’s prose. Wooden was larger
than life because he didn’t try to be; Woodburn writes a lovely book because he
has a simple, unselfish aim. “Coach helped shape my life, and grandly,” writes
Woodburn. “My friendship/mentorship with him was a precious gift, one that came
wrapped with a bow of responsibility to share with others the life lessons he
shared with me… the best I can strive for is to pay forward in some small
measure by sharing his wisdom with others…”
That Woodburn knew
Wooden doesn’t distinguish him from hundreds of others: what distinguishes
Woodburn is he cares about people and good things and Wooden knew this and so
the two became real friends (Woodburn has a stack of letters from Coach that he
keeps in a fireproof safe along with other pen-and-paper family heirlooms).
Because they were real friends, Wooden & Me touches every chamber of
the heart. At times the book is funny and upbeat, at times, poignant and
bittersweet. Woodburn often got through his own difficult times with help,
actual and inspired, from Coach, and Woodburn returned the favor. Together they
raised friendship to an art.
The value of
friendship, honesty, integrity and hard work, these are things that always merit
reminding. Woodburn turns the lessons he learned from Wooden into lessons we can
all use. “Remember, Woody,” Coach told him more than once, “good things take
time – and good things should take time. Usually a lot of time.”
This book is a very a
good thing.
Pre-order your copy of Wooden
& Me today at http://www.woodywoodburn.com/
Author Bio
Woody Woodburn is a
national award-winning sports columnist and currently a general interest
essayist with The Ventura County Star. National recognition for
Woodburn's writing includes First Place for Column Writing by the
Associated Press News Executive Council; E.W. Scripps Newspapers “Columnist of
the Year”; Copley News Service’s “Columnist of the Year”; and the James S.
Copley “Ring of Truth” award. Woodburn's
work has also appeared in The Best American Sports Writing anthology, The
Sporting News, and The Los Angeles Times Op-Ed pages. In 2004 he co-authored
Raising Your Child To Be A Champion In Athletics, Arts and Academics with
nationally renowned speaker and coach Wayne Bryan.
Inspired by Coach John Wooden’s
philanthropic spirit, Woodburn, 53, has held an annual Holiday Ball Drive that
has collected and donated more than 6,000 sports balls to disadvantaged youth
since 2001.
About the Reviewer:
Ken McAlpine is the author of the
novels Together We
Jump and FOG and the nonfiction books Off
Season: Discover America
on Winter’s Shore and Islands Apart: A Year
on the Edge of Civilization.
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