Library of Congress

Sports legend, Jim Thorpe at the New York Polo Grounds in 1913

Kate Buford is the author of “Native American Son: The Life and Legend of Jim Thorpe”.

Jim Thorpe is considered one of America’s greatest athletes. He won Olympic gold medals in 1912 for the pentathlon and decathalon, and went on to play professional baseball and football. Thorpe was stripped of his medals after the Olympic committee determined that he had violated the rules concerning amateur status.

Buford describes how Thorpe was raised as a Native American, how he was groomed to be a professional athlete, and how that training fell short when it came to living life beyond the spotlight.