David Wolf

Foul was a great book.
It was not, not an autobiography. In the introduction, David Wolf made that clear. As far as Connie Hawkins being able to read, the book tells the story about how Hawkins worked hard to try to learn before he went to college. The book also helped to clear the name of an innocent person, Connie Hawkins. Jack Molinas, who was a mastermind of the fix and an interesting rogue, said Hawkins was innocent.
The book and the lawsuit against the NBA went on around the same time. Hawkins got a big settlement.
Hawkins was an incredible sight on the basketball court.

 

I don't know, but that was one of the most influential books I read as a kid.

Just superb.

 

The Molinas story would also make a great movie, except Molinas himself was such a repugnant character the audience would be rooting for him to eat a bullet in the end.

 

Anyone looking for another great read, should track down a copy of Neil Isaacs' novel, The Great Molinas. In his acknowledgments, Isaacs mentions David Wolf as one of the people whose reporting he found helpful. I'm going from memory on this, but I think Isaacs told me years ago that there was a reason he had to tell the Molinas story in the form of a novel. Unfortunately, I don't remember why. And good luck in finding the book. I have never seen a copy other than the used one I found in a bookstore in St. Petersburg many years ago.

 

Mr Gold,

Am I missing something? I never suggested that it was an autobiography and in fact the first person does not appear. I have no idea where you get that from, maybe just an opportunity for you to go didactic. Or perhaps you meant that this wasn't an authorized biography (as opposed to an autobiography). And yes, Wolf did note that ... though he also notes that Hawk co-operated. As far as Hawk reading, it's pretty clear from his struggles in college classes that nuances might be lost on him.

YHS, etc

 

Borges quoted Wolf in a story done on ESPN.com last month ...

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=3065738

 

Hey yiz - I'm confused - are you using "didactic" with hostile intent or are you suggesting that Gold's intent was benevolent?

 

Mr 70,

Your default mode: Confused.

YHS, etc

 

Mr Friend/Friendless:

I read your comment about not letting Hawkins read the manuscript and thought you implied that Hawkins might have control over it. I might have misinterpreted your comment, but I don't think it was an unreasonable intrepretation. And as I said, Hawkins was perfectly capable of reading the book and from comments at the time, he was completely supportive because it told his story and brought it to a wide audience.

 

Mr Gold,

I wrote that Wolf "didn't have a lot to fear" in letting Hawkins read the ms -- the implication is that he let him read it (he did) rather than keeping it away from him. Wolf was on the side of the angels from the get-go. That said, for Hawkins, this was an article of faith. It was based more on his reading of Wolf than the ms. How much he took away from his reading of the ms, I'd wonder about. First and foremost it was, for Wolf, a matter of building trust. And believe me, when I dealt with Wolf, I expressed my highest admiration for the book and his sense of right and wrong.

YHS, etc

 

I just read “Foul.” An incredible book. It meant a lot to me because I moved to Phoenix in 1968 when I was 11 years old. The following year, 1969, I attended St Mary’s Catholic School for 8th grade. St Mary’s High School was across the street. The Phoenix Suns practiced in their gymnasium. I was lucky enough on multiple occasions to sneak into the gym and watch practice. After practice I’d stick around and rebound the ball for players staying late and working on their shots. One of them was Connie Hawkins. Everyone was a fan of the Hawk, including me. Reading the book, I had a revelation. I knew about the alleged gambler associations and gambling accusations, but never knew about the hard life he endured growing up on the streets of New York. An incredible story.

 

Charley Rosen did a book on Molinas, The Wizard of Odds: How Jack Molinas Almost Destroyed the Game of Basketball. I tried an excerpt and decided that Rosen is not a good enough writer to hold my interest for a full-length book.