Frank Deford
Frank Deford
Frank Defordis an American sportswriter and novelist...
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth16 December 1938
firsts hollywood humans
In Hollywood, writers are considered only the first draft of human beings.
above forward imagine interest looking main people roger root
You imagine people are looking forward to it as a treat, ... But the trick, I suppose, is to keep their interest up before you get to the ending.... Above all, you want the main character, Roger Bannister in this case, to be someone you like and you root for.
awful basketball damage games people playing super turn
I think really that if they can get back to playing games by the Super Bowl, which is when an awful lot of people turn and look at basketball for the first time, if they can do that, I don't think there will be any damage whatsoever.
basic behind bright clever nearly pages sports
Look at the sports pages of the 1930s and '40s. It was all games, basic stuff. Not nearly as much behind the scenes. I think newspapers, the ones that survive, will be the clever and bright ones.
flux
I think everything is in flux right now.
almost gone liberty seemed statue torch turning
It almost seemed as if the Statue of Liberty had gone on tour, turning in her torch for a Yonex racket.
associated baseball college player prominent star
He was the first prominent college player ... the first star to be associated with college, and in that sense he made baseball acceptable,
salute
Those of you doing that with the Samaritan Center, ... I salute you.
replace
Gamesmanship has come to replace sportsmanship all too often,
perfect sides
That's what makes them so perfect -- they were two different sides of the same coin,
british conquered englishman feat finally guy highest later meant nation nepal peak top year zealand
At the end of the day it was a guy from Nepal and a guy from New Zealand who conquered the world's highest peak for the British Empire. Bannister's feat a year later meant as much to the nation if not more. An Englishman had finally got to the top of the mountain.
athlete athletics dying great sets strong tragedy
It was a great tragedy ... an athlete dying young always sets us back. We see them as so strong and handsome. We don't think they'll crumble.
athletes celebrate critical everybody hard loves sports
Everybody loves sports. It's awfully hard to be critical of these athletes -- they're young, they're strong, they're beautiful. You want to celebrate these guys.
book easiest simple surprises understand
It really surprises people, and I understand why, but that was probably the easiest book I ever wrote, because it was simple narrative,