Review: "Amazing Perseverance to Be Free and  to Be Accepted"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 25, 2014
This is an extraordinary story written by Patricia Nell Warren, open Lesbian and Civil Rights Activist. Her novel is very moving, touching, with bold descriptions. It deals with the lack of equality rights back in the early 1970s and how restrictive and politically controlled the athletic organizations were at that time. In this story, Harlan Brown is an athletic coach at Prescott College, in New York.  On December 10, 1974, he meets 22-year-old Billy Sive, a track runner kicked off the Oregon University team along with two others because of being gay and they also had lost their scholarships. He and his two friends, in the winter, hitchhike from Oregon to New York state to join the field and track team at Prescott College.  Harlan himself is gay, but has always tried to not let it be known since his dismissal as coach from Penn State a couple years back.  The three boys are top runners and Harlan may have another chance to have a great team.  This story is the reflection of many who are trapped skeletons in the closet of American athletics.  Harlan believes these boys have Olympic capabilities, especially Billy as a distant runner.  He pushes Billy the hardest to get him into a positive workout schedule.  But Billy becomes arrogant and the tension between them grows till finally they confront each other about their feelings. This story is very revealing of the challenges they both meet and which they overcome.  The characters are very compelling, the story is finely honed, reflecting the skills of this author.  It's a story I'm impressed with as it is written by a women.  I consider her a front runner herself and hope all our dreams come to fulfillment with equal rights for all in our nation. Highly recommend.