As she began to
garner national
attention for her
unprecedented
athletic accomplishments, young
Babe Didrikson
received lots of
advice from male sportswriters.
Despite her two gold medals in track
and field at the 1932 Olympics, the great
Grantland Rice, after observing Babe’s
powerful swing, urged her to concentrate
on golf, saying “there is no doubt in my
mind ... she would be a world beater in
no time.” But the troglodyte Paul Gallico,
embarrassed at losing an ill-considered
foot race to Babe, declared that women
did not belong in sports and that “it
would be much better if she and her ilk
stayed at home, got themselves prettied
up and waited for the phone to ring.”
As every child who was schooled on
Babe Didrikson Zaharias’ unparalleled
career knows, she ignored skeptics who
darkly questioned her femininity and
went on to become the greatest woman
athlete – some would even drop gender
from the title – of the last century. What-
ever the sport, Babe proved to be, as
Rice had foretold, a world-beater.
“Wonder Girl” (Little, Brown; $27.99),
Don Van Natta Jr.’s new biography of
Zaharias, describes Babe’s journey from
growing up in a poor Norwegian immigrant family in Texas to her eventual life
of hobnobbing with the biggest celebrities of her time. She was a founding
member of the LPGA – some say it was
created mostly for her – and was the
first woman to play in a PGA event. She
excelled in basketball, track and field,
baseball, softball, tennis and bowling, but
perhaps became best known for golf,
where she won more consecutive
tournaments than any player, male or
female, ever has.
Behind the gaudy accomplishments,
she struggled for acceptance in the
hoity-toity world of country club golf,
endured repeated challenges to her
amateur status and, until her marriage
to the then-popular wrestler George
Zaharias, suffered constant speculation
about her sexual orientation.
In the end Van Natta’s colorful treatment
of Babe reveals a remarkable woman’s
layered life, and whatever flaws are
found in her personality did not lessen
her athletic achievements.
How did she hit a golf ball so far, she
was often asked. And would just as
often answer, "I just loosen my girdle
and let the ball have it."
It beats waiting for the phone to ring.
WISCONSIN CHEESE CURDS
(Recipe No.
7)
