Becoming Coach Shaw: How I Learned to Run My Own Race

When faced with adversity, you can give up. . .or you can run your race. Success did not come easy to Darwin Shaw. Raised by his grandparents and extended family members, Darwin’s childhood was filled with hardships and heartbreaks. With the help of people who cared, Darwin learned valuable lessons that helped him to face—and beat—tremendous odds. Becoming Coach Shaw is a powerful reminder that setbacks are not permanent and small steps can help us to run the race of our dreams. Advance Praise for "Becoming Coach Shaw": "Darwin “Bubby” Shaw's message is one that will resonate with young and old alike: Run your race—and know that God has a plan for your life." —Stan Simpson, host of The Stan Simpson Show, Fox CT; former Hartford Courant columnist "Darwin Shaw has an inspirational story of how he survived tragedy at a young age and rose from a childhood of poverty and little direction to become a trusted coach helping aimless youths find their way. He shares his story and the accompanying lessons in short, digestible bites. But they are packed with much wisdom and power." —Lisa Frazier Page, co-author of The New York Times-bestseller, The Pact: Three Men Make a Promise and Fulfill and Dream and Living and A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

Darwin F. Shaw is a teacher , coach, entrepreneur, and motivational speaker. He is also the director of the Osgood Shootout, an annual basketball tournament whose proceeds help to award college scholarships to graduates of New Britain High School. Darwin lives in New Britain, Connecticut. Kerry L. Beckford is a nonfiction writer and teaches college composition, rhetoric, and communication. Kerry is at work on a memoir about her American and Caribbean roots. An avid essayist, she blogs at "This is Who I Am" at www.kerrybeckford.com. Kerry resides in central Connecticut.