Summary

In the prologue, author Daniel James Brown explains how he met Joe Rantz, who is the main subject of the book. By coincidence, Rantz had been friends with the son of one of the subjects of Brown’s last books and was interested in meeting the author who lived only a short drive away. Brown obliged and was immediately taken by the old man in his mid-seventies who was slowly dying of congestive heart failure. Since Brown knew that Rantz had been part of the rowing crew that won gold in the 1936 Olympics, he began asking the old man questions about his career. After their first meeting, Brown knew that he wanted to write a book about Rantz who replied with misty eyes, “But not just about me. It has to be about the boat” (Page...