Hes right. In addition to featuring athletic accomplishments by figures such as decathlete Rafer Johnson, speedster Wilma Rudolph and boxer Cassius Clay, whod later rename himself Muhammad Ali, the games bristled with Cold War tension and controversy over the participation of apartheid-era South Africa and the death of a Danish cyclist laid the groundwork for future doping scandals. Some scribes might have shied away from trying to tie so many disparate threads together, but not Maraniss. This was a more complicated story to put together, he concedes, and that was a challenge I wanted. He pulls it off masterfully, too.
Maraniss speaks at 7:30 p.m. at the LoDo Tattered Cover, 1628 16th Street; the event is free. Learn more at 303-436-1070 or wwww.tatteredcover.com and read an extended Q&A with Maraniss at blogs.westword.com/latestword.
Thu., July 31, 2008