Author and journalist Kostya Kennedy presents his book, “True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson,” an unconventional biography focusing on four transformative years in Robinson’s athletic and public life, in a free online event on Tuesday, July 12, 5 to 6 p.m., sponsored by the Pasadena Public Library.
The stories in “True” start with 1946, Robinson’s first year playing in the essentially all-white minor leagues for the Montreal Royals. The book then goes on to relate how Jackie Robinson won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1949 in his third season as a Brooklyn Dodger, through 1956, his final season in major league baseball, when he played valiantly despite his increasing health struggles, and 1972, the year of his untimely death.
Through it all, Robinson remained true to the effort and the mission, true to his convictions and contradictions, Kennedy writes.
Along with “True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson,” Kennedy is the author of the award-winning “56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports,” as well as “Pete Rose: An American Dilemma.” Both were New York Times bestsellers and each received the CASEY Award as Best Baseball Book of their respective year. Kennedy’s 2016 book “Lasting Impact: One Team, One Season. What Happens When Our Sons Play Football” followed a season of high school football.
Kennedy earned an M.S. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, from which he received a Pulitzer Fellowship. He has taught in the graduate journalism program at Columbia and at NYU, in the journalism department, and at the Preston Robert Tisch Institute of Global Sport.
The discussion on Tuesday will be presented in Zoom. To sign and get a link to the virtual event, visit https://pasadena.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?eventid=5977 and sign up.
For more information, call (626) 744-4066.
