Sometimes people will ask me for a book recommendation and I will offer a few ideas.
Sometimes I read a book I like so much that I assault, friends, family and random strangers at the chiropractor’s office with my recommendation.
This was one of the latter.
I will admit that with the guy on the far right as my dad,
and the woman third from the bottom as my mom, 
and both being preceded by Gramps, 
that it’s quite likely I was inundated with so much rowing talk as a child that I couldn’t help but like this book.
Oh and so long as we are sharing pictures, I thought you should know that those people who raised me, they were pretty good too…
The Boys in the Boat, you should probably just go find it now before I corner you in the grocery store and talk your ear off about it!
Behind the Willows 
I downloaded this book to my Kindle prior to a long airline flight, but never started it. Now, I can’t wait. Thanks for the pics and the recommendation! I’ll be reading it next week! http://ohtheplaceswesee.com
Oh good! I hope you like it as much as I did! 🙂
You mean the guy in the boat with all that blond hair, Wow, I don’t remember Bob with hair!
Crazy, huh!?!
I, like you am very proud of our family’s history of athletic achievement, but to try to win any race sitting down going backwards just ain’t right!!
Having spent most of my fourteen years of swimming going backwards I’m not sure I can agree with you on this one…
How does it hold together for someone like me who has no particular background in the sport?
This is probably one of the more compelling nonfiction books I’ve ever read.
The author does a great job of assuming no knowledge of the sport and if you choose to read it by the end you’ll feel like a semi expert in rowing. If the rowing still doesn’t interest you you can focus instead on the history. Hitler using the Olympics as a huge propaganda campaign aimed at the rest of the world, west vs east rivalries (think Seabiscut) depression era life,building the hoover dam…. and all held together by a personal story of an athlete that would have made NBC salivate at the thought of making such a boy their “poster child” of the Olympics.
I’m glad you just couldn’t help yourself but talk about the book in your comments. 😛
SHE ASKED! 🙂
OK, I will add it to my list (kind of long list) of books to read. Right now I am reading 1491, which is about America at that time:http://amzn.to/MxAmjg I love the idea of it, but it is a bit dense for someone like me who is tired at the end of the day when I get to read, so it will take me awhile to get through.
Oh Jessie, how fantastic that rowing is truly in your veins! No wonder the book caught your attention. But I’m now going to put that on my to-be-read list … you’ve certainly piqued my interest for sure! Off to Goodreads to read some reviews …