Authors' Letters: "Philosophy of Sport"

102 AUTHORS, 128 LETTERS, 138 PAGES, ALL ON THE SUBJECT OF THE "PHILOSOPHY OF SPORT." "IT'S LIKE OEDIPUS CHEATED AT CRAPS"

[AUTHORS' LETTERS]. A collection of 128 unpublished autograph and typewritten letters by American and British authors, with a couple of politicians thrown in. Represented are novelists of all sorts, poets and playwrights as well.. They range from Joy Adamson to Thornton Wilder; Issac Asimov to Richard Wilbur; John Barth to Robert Graves; John Ciardi; J. Edgar Hoover to John Glenn; Rockwell Kent to Alan Paton; Archibald MacLeish to Geoffrey Household, Mary Renault to Mary Stewart, and include Ray Bradbury, Pearl Buck, John Cheever, John Fowles, Earl Stanley Gardner, Charles Schulz (twice), Marianne Moore, Iris Murdoch, George Plimpton, Pamela Travers, et al. The letters are all on one theme: philosophy of sport. Almost all were written in 1968, with a few dated 1969. Many have their original mailing envelopes.

Most of the authors were pleased to reveal their personal philosophy of sport in answer to a question posed to them about modern athletes and whether they think they would fall into the Grantland Rice camp where it is not important who won or lost, "But how you played the game," or the Leo Durocher camp summed up by his maxim, "Nice guys finish last."

About 18 of the responses decline to participate in the project, and some of them are quite interesting, such as those by Barth, Wilder, Lillian Ross, etc. Barth says "Your position has my sympathy, your epistolary style my compliments. But my vow to Apollo prohibits me from nattering on about such things. Call George Plimpton" [he's here too]. Wilder, ever the grouch, writes: "Count me out. All that kind of moralizing bores me. I have nothing to say."

The answers are revealing and as varied as the authors, some of whom profess their ignorance about sport. A large number obviously embraced the project and provide humorous, thoughtful, and in some cases very long responses. Some are charming, some conceited-sounding, but generally they try to be quite helpful. Some like Geoffrey Household, Irwin Wallace, Everett Dirksen, Hammond Innes, Richard Eberhart, and others, clearly got their teeth around the subject. We can't help but quote J. Edgar Hoover: "While there are doubtless unscrupulous individuals in the sporting world, I have always felt-and will continue to feel-that athletics are best served by individuals who strictly observe the highest code of personal conduct and fair play." Hah! The Complete List is Available upon Request.