At last, a major biography of one of golf’s greatest legends.
Arnold Palmer changed golf--and sports--forever. The winner of more than 90 tournaments, including four Masters, the numbers on his resume don’t do justice to the greatness of his achievements. Because Palmer wasn’t just a golfer in the golden age of the sport, knocking heads with other greats like Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player--he also was one of the first sportsmen to understand the marketing possibilities of his, and all, sports. Forging an alliance with sports agent Mark McCormick, Palmer parlayed his brilliance on the course into deals and paydays previously unheard of, and paved the way for the multi-million dollar deals that are standard across all sports.
But no one ever ended up hating Palmer for being a businessman as much as a golfer--instead, he was beloved for his powerful hitting, his nerve on the greens, and his great relationships with fans, whose nickname for him (”the King”) was heartfelt.
When Palmer died, in 2016, it was front-page news across the country. Tom Callahan knew Palmer well for many years, and has assembled, here, a trove of anecdotes and great stories from all the key people in Palmer’s life. Put together, the stories tell an extraordinary sports and human story, the definitive oral biography of one of the greatest golfers ever to play the game.
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“Veteran sports reporter Callahan…[is] a die-hard Arnold Palmer fan and has tremendous admiration for Palmer’s ‘considerate heart’…Callahan goes into great detail describing key shots and the clubs used and pressure-filled shots he had to pull off to win a tournament. Along the way, he provides fascinating miniprofiles of lesser-known players…Callahan’s lively and brisk writing style makes for an eminently readable book jam-packed with anecdotes and stories golfers will love.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“Before I played in a Masters or US Open, I played golf with Tom Callahan in Pretoria. So we go back a ways. In my first American major, I was paired with Arnold Palmer. Now Tom and Arnold are paired forever.”
— Ernie Els“Tom knows the game of golf as well as anyone in the business. A lot of years, not just a lot of nights, went into this.”
— Jack Nicklaus“Frequent golf writer Callahan provides an overview of Palmer’s life. What is notable about this account is that it is organized chronologically and concludes with remarks from golfers who cite Palmer as an influence. Fans of Palmer will be familiar with many of the stories, although there are newer tales here as well…Yet, in the church of golf, Arnold is a saint. And, like most saints, he touched the lives of many…[A] laudatory biography.”
— Library JournalBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Tom Callahan, a former senior writer at Time magazine and sports columnist at the Washington Post, is the author of nine books, including The GM and the New York Times bestseller Johnny U.
Danny Campbell is an Earphones Award–winning narrator and an actor who has appeared in CBS’ The Guardian, the films A Pool, a Fool, and a Duel and Greater Than Gravity, and in over twenty-five commercials. He is a company member of the Independent Shakespeare Company in Los Angeles and is an adjunct faculty member at Santa Monica College.