A Skating Life: My Story - Hardcover

Hamill, Dorothy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786299657 ISBN 13: 9780786299652

Publisher: Thorndike Pr, 2007

Synopsis

A memoir by the Olympic gold medalist shares the secrets of her private life, from her difficulties with her alcoholic father and her emotionally distant mother to her own struggles with depression and bankruptcy.

About this title

About the Author

Shortly after she was born in Chicago, Dorothy Hamill's family moved to Greenwich, Connecticut--though once she began skating, she was constantly on the road training and competing. She was a three-time United States National Champion (1974-76) and won the World Championship and Olympic Gold Medal in 1976. She was an inductee of both the U.S. and World Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and a headliner for the Ice Capades for seven years before briefly owning it. She can be seen today as a judge on Skating with Celebrities as well as skating performing in skating exhibitions. Dorothy lives with her daughter Alexandra in Connecticut--and when asked when she plans on stopping skating, she contentedly declares: "never."

From Publishers Weekly

From age eight, when she discovered she loved skating, to age 19, when she won her Olympic gold medal, Hamill's parents sacrificed and scraped so she could train. This memoir is her homage to them, as well as her frank recounting of the difficulties women faced in professional sports in the 1970s. Hamill's father worked to support the family, so her mother, Carol, would drive her to most practices and competitions, battling the sport's old boys' network on her daughter's behalf. After the Olympics, it was up to Hamill to figure out what to do. She was young and unschooled in life off the rink, with no female role models for the professional career she wanted. She struggled to pay back her parents, find a man who'd love her, and keep skating beautifully, but she couldn't do it all. She ended up suffering two difficult divorces and a custody battle, alienating her parents and going bankrupt trying to make the Ice Capades successful. Frequent mentions of Carol's mental problems distract from Hamill's story, but that won't dissuade the skater's fans from devouring this quietly charming book. (Oct.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Thorndike Pr
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0786299657
• ISBN 13: 9780786299652
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 368