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Big Bill Tilden: The Triumphs and the Tragedy
The classic biography of one of the most successful, yet tragic, figures in American sports history.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Frank Deford
40 books58 followersFrank Deford (born December 16, 1938, in Baltimore, Maryland) is a senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated, author, and commentator.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 10, 2010
A Terrible Splendor used this as source material, so a lot of what was in here I'd already encountered. While Tilden wasn't what you might call a role model off the court, in a way it's sad that he's effectively been erased from the history of U.S. tennis. His fall from grace was almost too sad to read about.
May 31, 2020
deford is a fantastic writer, and tilden a fascinating character. the choice to tell the sports story first and the personal story second was odd but somehow worked. the book’s biggest flaw is its outdated handling of tilden’s homosexuality - referring to it multiple times, for example, as a choice - but things evolve and i don’t think the author is in any way way a homophobe.
June 16, 2017
The book that told the hard truth about Bill Tiden. He has been arrested for picking up boys for sex. Not exactly the story I hoped to read as a teenage boys tennis player competing in the USTA tornments around Tennessee.
August 3, 2015
This winds up being a really, really weird book.
The author seems convinced that he's telling a tale about a forgotten legend whose reputation has been unfairly tarnished by now-deplored ideas about what he calls "homosexuality." That would be a compelling story.
Instead, the author seems to be unable to grasp that being gay and being a pedophile are two entirely different things and the latter is still abhorrent. (even moreso than usual because Tilden apparently did his molesting from a position of authority and repeatedly). There's also some terribly dated (if ever accepted) psychology on the affect of a "distant father" and a "too concerned mother." This book is in many ways an insult.
(Tilden also has some other undiagnosed mental illness.)
Despite the above, the author is really sympathetic to Tilden because of what the author perceives as neglect and homophobia that Tilden suffered and the author believes Tilden's tennis greatness excuses some of his behavior. That's a pretty common position for a biographer, but the audience really needed to be considered here.
A lot of the writing about tennis is pretty good.
The author seems convinced that he's telling a tale about a forgotten legend whose reputation has been unfairly tarnished by now-deplored ideas about what he calls "homosexuality." That would be a compelling story.
Instead, the author seems to be unable to grasp that being gay and being a pedophile are two entirely different things and the latter is still abhorrent. (even moreso than usual because Tilden apparently did his molesting from a position of authority and repeatedly). There's also some terribly dated (if ever accepted) psychology on the affect of a "distant father" and a "too concerned mother." This book is in many ways an insult.
(Tilden also has some other undiagnosed mental illness.)
Despite the above, the author is really sympathetic to Tilden because of what the author perceives as neglect and homophobia that Tilden suffered and the author believes Tilden's tennis greatness excuses some of his behavior. That's a pretty common position for a biographer, but the audience really needed to be considered here.
A lot of the writing about tennis is pretty good.
January 28, 2016
I didn't realize how dominant a tennis player Tilden was. It was really cool to hear all the stories of him toying with his opponents, letting them win a couple sets before he would come back to crush them. I also thought the book was well-researched and that I got a good glimpse into Tilden's personality. However I don't believe pedophilia should be justified by society's harsh attitudes towards homosexuals in the early to mid 20th century. At times it seemed like Deford was way to sympathetic on this matter.
July 9, 2016
So much I didn't know about this tennis legend. This is a warts-and-all telling which only makes me wish there were more interviews and authentic documentation still available to shed light on Tilden's personality. I kept wondering, What would Bill say? We know some but I get the sense there is much more we don't.
March 22, 2012
Probably didn't read the whole book but I did read what was in Sports Illustrated. At least I assume it was the same writer. Date read is a guess.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews