Great Jews in Sports

by Robert Slater

Replete with facts, figures, and statistics, Great Jews in Sports documents the contribution of Jewish athletes to the world of sports over the past two centuries. From home-run king Hank Greenberg, star of the 1930s and 1940s, to gymnast Kerri Strug, gold-medal winner at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, this new edition of a perennial favorite presents intriguing portraits of sports stars from around the globe. Bestselling author Robert Slater's more than 150 major profiles and thumbnail sketches include such a fascinating and diverse mix as Daniel Mendoza, the father of modern boxing; Esther Roth, the first Israeli to reach the Olympic finals; Sidney Franklin, the first Jewish bullfighter; Angela Buxton, the 1956 Wimbledon Doubles Champion; Sandy Koufax, the youngest player ever to be admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame; Hungarian gymnast Agnes Keleti, who earned an impressive five gold medals in the 1930s and 1940s; and power swimmer Lenny Krayzelburg, who won two gold medals for the United States at the 1998 World Championships in Perth, Australia. For those particularly interested in the Israeli sports scene, Slater devotes an entire section of biographies to outstanding Israeli sports figures, including basketball star Mickey Berkowitz, soccer goalie Ya'acov Chodorov, and track and field stars Zehava Shmueli and Uri Zohar. Also included are lists of the winners of the Maccabiah Games and of members of the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, which was founded in 1979, in Netanya, Israel, to recognize Jewish athletes of distinction. First published in 1983, Robert Slater's new edition of the classic Great Jews in Sports will continue to delight seasoned sports lovers while introducing a whole new generation to some of the finest athletes of our time. Introduction by Red Auerbach. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs.

Genres: Sports

368 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1990

About the author

Robert Slater was an American author and journalist known for over two dozen books, including biographies of political and business figures such as Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, George Soros, and Donald Trump.
Slater was born in Manhattan and grew up in South Orange, New Jersey. He graduated from Columbia High School in 1962 and graduated with honors from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, with a degree in political science. In 1967 he received a master's degree in international relations from the London School of Economics. He worked for United Press International (UPI) from 1969 to 1971 before moving to Jerusalem, where he worked for UPI until 1974; and for Time magazine in Jerusalem from 1976 to 1996. From 1987 and 1990 he was chairman of the Foreign Press Association in Israel. In his later years he was a columnist for The Jerusalem Report, and mentored young journalists at The Jerusalem Post. He lived for much of his life in Israel, and with his wife, Elinor, co-authored the books Great Jewish Women and Great Jewish Men.