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.He reminiscedabout his rough childhood, used his memory of German longjumper Lutz Long to demonstrate how even enemies can over-come their differences, and swore by the difficult lesson he hadlearned over the past several years that with hard work, evena poor boy can make good in America.This was exactly what the business leaders wanted to hear.These were the years of the cold war with the Soviet Union,when Communism became a dirty word in the United Statesand many people were hounded from their jobs for not seem-ing patriotic enough.Almost overnight, Jesse Owens became67 CH.BAA.JOw.C08.Final.q 30/11/04 14:58 Page 6868JESSE OWENSOwens leaps down the stairs of the Waldorf Astoria.He hadbeen invited to attend a dinner for the All Time, All Star UnitedStates Olympic track and field team, for which he had beenselected by national vote among sportswriters, radio andtelevision representatives.a symbol of the American way of life. It was not that he wassaying anything differently than he ever had before; it wasjust that now those words readily blended in with the mood ofthe country.A registered Republican ever since his ill-fatedcampaign for Alf Landon in 1936, Owens soon became afavorite of Republican President Dwight D.Eisenhower.While corporations scrambled to get Owens to endorsetheir products, the president sent him overseas as a goodwillrepresentative of the government.On one of these tours, when CH.BAA.JOw.C08.Final.q 30/11/04 14:58 Page 6969A Patchwork Quilthe traveled through Berlin, he met the son of his long-lostfriend Lutz Long.It was the youngster who broke the news toOwens that Long had been killed in the trenches during thewar.Just as he had done with the long jumper years before,Owens talked with the young man late into the night.Back in Chicago, Owens joined the board of directors of theSouth Side Boys Club, where he personally organized programsto help out troubled youngsters in the city s black ghetto.Appointed chairman of the Illinois State Athletic Commission,he worked hard to promote athletics as a way out of povertyfor poor youngsters.Meanwhile, he kept up his usual scheduleof publicity appearances and radio shows, somehow findingtime to tour the Far East as a goodwill ambassador for theState Department.This was a backbreaking schedule, and itwould only accelerate in the years ahead.Gradually, as Owens raced from airport to airport, hebegan to tire of it all.He wrote, I was getting to be justanother old jockstrap.Maybe I was fur-lined, but I was stilla jockstrap. When his long-standing world records in the100-yard dash and 400-meter relay fell, that feeling hit himIN HIS OWN WORDS&In November 1970, Owens traveled to Reading, Pennsylvania, to speak to agroup of nearly 800 teachers and administrators at the Reading SchoolDistrict.He urged those gathered to understand how athletics could be astepping-stone for those seeking to escape poverty.His comments, printed inthe December 1, 1970, Times of Reading, reflect a man who has carefullyconsidered the highs and lows of his career.I wouldn t want to change anything in my life, and there s nothing elseI d rather be doing now.Sure, I ve had ups and downs, but God has beenvery good to me.If I had a pencil and eraser and could start over again,I couldn t improve anything. CH.BAA.JOw.C08.Final.q 30/11/04 14:58 Page 7070JESSE OWENSharder.Jesse Owens was 43 years old now.His daughterMarlene had just enrolled at his alma mater, Ohio StateUniversity.Yet he had to admit to himself that he still had notfound anything to compare with the youthful thrill of thoseOlympic Games so long ago.He never would.One by one, his world records fell, the lastbeing his long-jump mark, which American Ralph Bostonovertook at the 1960 Olympics in Rome.Interviewed thereabout his feelings, Owens shrugged and said, It s like having apet dog for a long time.You get attached to it, and when it diesyou miss it. That same year, Owens had the haunting experience ofappearing on This Is Your Life, a television show in whichcelebrity guests won the mixed blessing of being surprised byfaces from their past.Coach Charles Riley, old and feeble bynow, made the trip from his retirement home in Sarasota,Florida, to Los Angeles for the show.It dawned on Owens thathe had not taken the time to see his old mentor in 15 years.This was the last time the two would meet.Riley died a fewmonths later.Owens was aware, too, that he hardly knew his family.Allthree of his daughters were grown and gone.His wife, Ruth,had done what she could to make a good family life for themall, but with his schedule of constant travel, Owens had spentlittle time at home.Yet he found it impossible to stop, or evenslow down.1968 OLYMPICSOwens campaigned for Richard Nixon in 1960 in a losingpresidential battle against John F [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]