I would like to congratulate the winners of Running after Prefontaine by Scott Parker, July's Author in the Spotlight. I would like to thank Scott for giving away 3 copies of his memoir to Booksnob followers.
And the winners are:
Jacque from Utah
Doug from Minnesota
Angy from Ontario
Congrats!!
If you didn't win, don't fret you can order Scott's book on Amazon. Scott has written a poignant memoir that is not merely about running but it is a philosophical
look at how running is a metaphor for life.
Running after Prefontaine Giveaway ends tomorrow (Aug, 5th) at midnight.
It is the end of July already and August has started, where does the time go? I am still away on vacation in beautiful North Dakota. So here is to warm summer nights, days at the lake and fireworks. What a beautiful month July has been and it is time for me to wrap-up the month of July by highlighting Minnesota author, Scott Parker.
Tomorrow is the last day to enter the contest to win a copy of Running after Prefontaine. The contest ends at midnight. The contest is open for residents of U.S. and Canada. Good Luck and as always thanks for following Booksnob!
Please check out my book review of Running after Prefontaine. A memoir. Scott has written a memoir that is inspirational. Scott's memoir is not merely about running but it is a philosophical look at how running is a metaphor for life. If you can run miles and struggle through the running race, you can apply that to life's challenges and push yourself to do anything you want.
Check out the author interview with Scott Parker. If your curious about who Prefontaine is and why Scott is running after him, then you definitely need to read this interview as Scott reveals the answer. Scott has a great sense of humor and like to read. Check out the authors and books that influence him as a writer and a runner.
As July ends I would like to thank Scott for being the July Minnesota Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob. He is a excellent, creative writer and I am glad I got this chance to work with him. Scott F. Parker is the author of Revisited: Notes on Bob Dylan and Running After Prefontaine: A Memoir, and he is coeditor ofCoffee—Philosophy for Everyone: Grounds for Debate. Find him online at http://scottfparker.blogspot.com/
Running after Prefontaine. A Memoir by Scott Parker
Running has led Scott Parker on a adventure through life's ups and downs and around curves, through the woods and out into the bright sunlight. Scott's memoir is not merely about running but it is a philosophical look at how running is a metaphor for life. If you can run miles and struggle through the running race, you can apply that to life's challenges and push yourself to do anything you want.
Scott runs everywhere and pushes himself with minimal training (in some instance) to try marathons, as well as to run in off road trails into the woods. He tells the reader about the perils of running, the injuries, and sometimes the defeat. But just like life you need to get up everyday, get dressed, drink your coffee and lace up your tennis shoes and get out there and do it all over again. "The running writer George Sheehan says, "I'm my own hero". pg. 116
You don't need to be a runner to enjoy this entertaining memoir. I am not a runner, well I used to run until I got bursitis in my hip and so I no longer run but I have never been a runner, not competitively anyways. I learned so much from this book especially who the running legend, Prefontaine is. I could definitely relate Scott's philosophy to my own life and I could picture the joy he gets from running and transferred it to the joy I feel being outside, hiking or backpacking.
Scott has a creative writing style which is invigorating. I love the changed of styles in Running for Prefontaine and frankly it is the perfect book to read before, during and after the Olympics.
Scott Parker is the author in the spotlight here on Booksnob for the month of July. I was lucky to be able to interview Scott on his life, his book and the sport of running. Welcome Scott.
1. Tell
us a little bit about yourself?
I like ice cream? My cat’s name
is Mavis?
2. What
inspired you to write Running After Prefontaine?
I used to write a lot
for books like Football and
Philosophy, Golf and Philosophy, Alice in Wonderland and Philosophy, and
others like that,but I missed out on Running
and Philosophy, which is the one that most interested me, so I sat
down to write my own essay collection on running.
As I worked on the book, I saw that it would work better as memoir.
3.Can
you tell us why or when you decided to become a writer?
I don’t know that it ever felt
like a decision. Over a number of years, I found myself writing more and more.
Eventually I accepted that someone who writes a lot . . .
4.Some
of us have never heard of Prefontaine.Can you tell us who Prefontaine is and why are you running after him?
He was a lot faster than I am. Steve
Prefontaine (or, Pre) is the iconic
American distance runner. He was known for being a gutsy runner and a showman.
He held many American records, won multiple national championships in college,
and placed fourth in the 5,000m at the 1972 Olympics. As good as he was, it was
his charisma that made him a star. He died in 1975 in a car accident with his
best running years still ahead of him. He’s been the subject of two biopics (one
of which, Without Limits, is very
good) that have helped him remain in the public consciousness. He’s an
inspiration to almost anyone who’s interested in track, and r
really any American who runs
distances encounters his legacy. But that’s especially true for runners from
Oregon (where I’m from). Pre grew up on the coast there and ran for Bill
Bowerman at the University of Oregon. He’s a central part of why Eugene is
known as Track Town USA.
5.Do
you have to be a runner to enjoy your memoir?
I sure hope not. One thing I
should make clear here is that this isn’t one of those books where a great
runner summarizes his accomplishments. I’m a mediocre runner who enjoys running
for the meaning and sense of joy it affords. If you don’t like running, you
should see parallels to activities that do inspire you, whether that’s swimming
or dancing or painting or cooking. It’s one of the ongoing arguments of the
book that we should pursue activities in our life that do nothing but bring us
joy—but hearty joys that require work on our part, not passive joy like being
entertained by something electronic 24/7.
6.We
know you like to run, but do you like to read?What authors or books influence you?
So many. I’ll stick to memoir and
mention just a few books that have been important influences for me: Dave
Eggers’s A Heartbreaking Work of
Staggering Genius; David Shields’s Enough
About You: Adventures in Autobiography; Debra Gwartney’s Live Through This; Poe Ballantine’s 501 Minutes to Christ; Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club; Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking;
Nietzsche’s Ecce Homo. I could go on,
but those are some that come to mind.
7. Do
you have any advice to give to aspiring runners and/or aspiring writers?
My first instinct is to say no.
But if pressed I would advise runners to think about why you’re running and
what you hope to get from the sport. If it’s to win races, I don’t know what to
tell you. That’s never really been my aim. If it’s to look good naked, good
luck. If it’s to feel alive and playful and spontaneous and happy, what my book
tries to do is show you that that’s available to you too. The term I like to
use is the joy of running qua running. Running
can be challenging, it can be a form of self-improvement, it can also be tons
of fun. That’s what I want to remind people.Aspiring writers: read lots.
8.How
many miles do you usually run in a year?How many marathons?
I ran Grandma’s Marathon in
Duluth last month. Before that it had been over a year since my last marathon.
That’s about average for me. I’m on the every-once-in-awhile plan. My approach
to shorter runs is similar. I try to run no more and no less than I feel like
it, which ends up meaning I tend to run about once a week in the winter and
almost every day in the summer. That’s been my routine since moving to
Minnesota three-plus years ago. In Oregon it was much more consistent season to
season.
9.In
one sentence tell readers why they should read Running After Prefontaine?
It’s the best thing since toe
shoes.
Thanks Scott! If you are interested in winning a copy of Scott's book Running after Prefontaine. Click on the highlighted link: Running after Prefontaine Giveaway
Scott Parker is July's Author in the Spotlight here on Booksnob and he has written a guest post on Writing and Running and he includes five of his favorite running books. Welcome Scott.
Running seems a natural fit for literature. The hallmarks of the sport—solitude, persistence, and equanimity—are some of the hallmarks of writing as well. Many of the writers I know do some of their best writing while running, whether they’re thinking about writing or not. The rhythms of running are amazingly conducive to producing the kind of reflection that is necessary for writing. Not surprisingly, there is no shortage of great books on running. With apologies to George Sheehan, Alan Sillitoe, JerryLynch, and many other authors I’d include in a longer list, here are five of my favorite running books.
Christopher McDougall’s Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seenis the book that exploded the barefoot running movement. McDougall mixes research with first-hand reporting to
argue that the shoe industry’s ascendance, which has accompanied the running boom of the past four decades, has led to an explosion in running-related injuries. The problem, roughly, is that the common thickly-padded running shoe distorts the natural running stride, which can lead to all sorts of ailments. In addition to the compelling biomechanical angle, McDougall travels to the Copper Canyons of Mexico and introduces the reader to the Tarahumara, who run miles and miles in thin, flat-soled sandals without injury, and a cast of elite American ultra runners. It’s a paradigm-shifting page turner. See my full review of Born to Run here.
More than thirty years before Born to Run, Thaddeus Kostrubala described the running of the Tarahumara in his sadly forgotten The Joy of Running. Kostrubala, an out-of-shape doctor in the early ‘70s, took up running for the sake of his health. He quickly noted psychological benefits in addition to his improved physical condition. It wasn’t long before he was using running in his medical practice and studying its impact on everything from depression to schizophrenia. Kostrubla’s personal and professional stories are given here along with advice for how to find the joy of running in one’s own life. The Joy of Running is long out of print, but used copies are out there and can be found without much trouble. See my interview with Kostrubla here.
Once a Runner by John L. Parker (no relation) is a classic of running literature. Parker self-published his novel in the late ‘70s, loosely basing the story on his own collegiate running experience at the University of Florida. In addition to capturing the challenges, intrigues, joys, and frustrations of running, Once a Runner is the best literary rendering of what it’s like to be an elite runner. As Parker himself has said, "There aren't many writers who get close to a 4-minute mile, or who got to be roommates with an Olympian, and who can tell other people what that's like."
Running and Philosophy: A Marathon of the Mind, edited by Michael W. Austin, features over a dozen essays on running by leading contemporary philosophers, including Martha Nussbaum. But don’t dismiss this book as academic. It’s written for the runner who is interested in learning about philosophy more than for the philosopher who wants to start running. And as runners know, with or without a background in philosophy, running lends itself quite easily to thoughtful reflection. Chances are in reading this collection you’ll see some of your own insights and intuitions expanded and developed.
Kenny Moore was a member of the University of Oregon track team coached by the iconic Bill Bowrerman, running distances in the late ‘60s with teammate Steve Prefontaine. After finishing fourth in the marathon at the Munich Olympics, Moore turned to writing. His works include the excellent screenplay to the Prefontaine biopic Without Limits and the biography Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon’s Legendary Coach and Nike’s Cofounder. This book is essential for anyone interested in the flourishing of track as sport or in jogging as recreation in the latter half of the twentieth century. Bowerman was the central figure in both movements and he proves a fascinating study. Moore makes the most of his insider knowledge, offering a thorough and thoughtful look at this legend. Cannot recommend this one enough.
Thanks Scott. Please comment if you know of any good running books to add to Scott's list? Please comment if you have read any of the books Scott's mentions?
It's July! It's July! Shoot off some fireworks, cut up the watermelon, shuck some corn and find your swimsuit and lawn chair. It is time to relax and go to the beach and then head off to ride your bike or go for a run along the river. I hope whatever you do in July will be memorable and I hope it includes checking out Scott F. Parker, who is July's Author in the Spotlight.
Scott has written a memoir called: Running After Prefontaine.
Here is the synopsis from Amazon: Like so many young runners in Oregon, Scott Parker came of age under the
spell of the Prefontaine legend, which inspired his early understanding
of running's purpose as being centered around discipline and will
power. In Running After Prefontaine, Parker traces his running back to
its roots in Northeast Portland and follows it forward in time as his
relationship with running evolves to include a more nuanced approach to
the sport. Whether he's literally running in Pre's footsteps in Coos Bay
or Eugene, running on the beaches of Asia, or running himself past
exhaustion in Portland's Forest Park, Parker is an astute narrator of
the running experience. This intimate book, which connects running to
the author's process of self-becoming, demonstrates how what we do makes
us who we are.
This month you can expect a book review, a contest, a author interview and a guest post by Scott Parker. Scott F. Parker is the author of Revisited: Notes on Bob Dylan and
Running After Prefontaine: A Memoir, and he is coeditor of Coffee—Philosophy
for Everyone: Grounds for Debate. Find him online at http://scottfparker.blogspot.com/ Keep checking in at Booksnob as
June is going to be great a month!
He was a lot faster than I am. Steve
Prefontaine (or, Pre) is the iconic
American distance runner. He was known for being a gutsy runner and a showman.
He held many American records, won multiple national championships in college,
and placed fourth in the 5,000m at the 1972 Olympics. As good as he was, it was
his charisma that made him a star. He died in 1975 in a car accident with his
best running years still ahead of him. He’s been the subject of two biopics (one
of which, Without Limits, is very
good) that have helped him remain in the public consciousness. He’s an
inspiration to almost anyone who’s interested in track, and r
Running seems a natural fit for literature. The hallmarks of the sport—solitude, persistence, and equanimity—are some of the hallmarks of writing as well. Many of the writers I know do some of their best writing while running, whether they’re thinking about writing or not. The rhythms of running are amazingly conducive to producing the kind of reflection that is necessary for writing. Not surprisingly, there is no shortage of great books on running. With apologies to George Sheehan, Alan Sillitoe, JerryLynch, and many other authors I’d include in a longer list, here are five of my favorite running books.
Like so many young runners in Oregon, Scott Parker came of age under the
spell of the Prefontaine legend, which inspired his early understanding
of running's purpose as being centered around discipline and will
power. In Running After Prefontaine, Parker traces his running back to
its roots in Northeast Portland and follows it forward in time as his
relationship with running evolves to include a more nuanced approach to
the sport. Whether he's literally running in Pre's footsteps in Coos Bay
or Eugene, running on the beaches of Asia, or running himself past
exhaustion in Portland's Forest Park, Parker is an astute narrator of
the running experience. This intimate book, which connects running to
the author's process of self-becoming, demonstrates how what we do makes
us who we are.
