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FREEDOMWAYS
FOURTH QUARTER 1966

with endless repetition because the writer has not made Russell dig to give him detailed impressions. The whole thing is done as if they went about it with the attitude "Oh God, we've still go more years to cover." And we are confronted on every page with an unsatisfactory, artificial "I" on which the writer and subject seem to have settled in lieu of something real.

But the deeper problem with this kind of book is that athletes, even great ones, are like everyone else when it gets down to the nitty-gritty. You do not really do a good book about yourself the basketball player, you do a book about yourself. The beauty of athletics is its non-intellectuality, and Russell is in his essence as we know him and far more fascinating making those split-second blocks of opponent's shots than he is in this book. Writing on the other hand, is largely an intellectual exercise; it is the device of reaching the emotions and intellect of the reader through language, a product of the mind.

The unfortunate thing about all this is that Russell really has something to sat-obviously he has, and what he has to sat comes from deep hurts.

The only great athlete I have known intimately was Jim Brown at Syracuse University. Brown was an introvert at Syracuse who developed a startling cynicism because of the contradictions between being a great star and a Negro student. He was, as is well known, an unbelievably fantastic athlete and the multi-university which gained fame from his name exploited him in every possible sport. It was as if they were out to use him up, but they could not; he was too great.

Well, some day we will get a good, honest book by a Negro athlete about the reality he has learned to know. But Russell's book isn't it and Brown's book wasn't it and I really do feel that the man who finally writes it will have to write it himself, because he wants to tell his story, not because he wants to capitalize on his fame

Thomas C. Dent

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