The Last Sure Thing: The Life and Times of Bobby Riggs

Lecompte, Tom

ISBN 10: 0972121307 / ISBN 13: 9780972121309

Published by Black Squirrel Pub, Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A., 2003

About this Item

1ST EDITION. FIRST PRINTING. Best known for his much-anticipated and watched TV tennis match vs. Billie Jean King, "The Last Sure Thing is a revealing portrait of a showman, hustler, huckster and champion". INSCRIBED AND SIGNED by the author on the title page. 471 pages. Sparsely illustrated with black & white photography. LH6.

Seller Inventory # 001162

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Last Sure Thing: The Life and Times of Bobby Riggs
• Publisher: Black Squirrel Pub, Ashland, Ohio, U.S.A.
• Publication Date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0972121307
• ISBN 13: 9780972121309
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine

About this title

Synopsis

He lived by his own rules, and more often than not he broke them. Bobby Riggs was the original bad boy of tennis. Forever remembered as the motormouthed antagonist of Billie Jean King in the famous "Battle of the Sexes," he had a nose for action and an insatiable appetite for competition.

The Last Sure Thing is the story of a hardscrabble kid in a highbrow, "sissy" game; the son of a fundamentalist minister who was a compulsive gambler; a self-proclaimed male chauvinist whose only mentors in the game were women; a short, wispy-haired fellow with a squeaky voice, a bad haircut, and horned-rimmed glasses who became, somehow, a sex symbol. Riggs’ life reads like a history of the modern game. He played and beat legends such as Bill Tilden and Don Budge; rose up the amateur ranks to Wimbledon and world champion; barnstormed on the early pro tours; and then, by sheer force of his personality, became the center of the biggest spectacle in tennis history, a match that transcended sports to become one of the iconic events of its generation.

About the Author

Tom LeCompte is an editor and journalist living in western Massachusetts. He has written for magazines that include Tennis, Air & Space, the Hartford Advocate and Proof. In addition, he is a longtime tennis player and coach. This is his first book.