WEST ORANGE, NJ — It is a time-honored tradition for fathers and sons to bond through sports. Some cherish those moments playing catch in the backyard, Dad’s throwing tips punctuated by the gentle slap of the ball hitting the glove leather. Others reflect on seeing their first professional game together as a rite of passage, the memory of which they will hold for as long as they live.
But one West Orange family took their love of athletics in an entirely different direction — they wrote their own book.
Wall Street Journal special writer Gregory Zuckerman and his two sons, 14-year-old Elijah and 17-year-old Gabriel, recently released “Rising Above,” an account of how 11 famous athletes overcame obstacles in their youth to become some of the biggest stars in the sports world. The book was Gregory Zuckerman’s first opportunity to write for a middle school audience following two bestsellers on stock-trading and fracking. But above all, it was a chance for him to connect with his sons in a way he never had before.
“It was really a gift to be able to work with my sons on a project like this,” Gregory Zuckerman told the West Orange Chronicle in a July 7 phone interview. “My kids had a blast going to a place like Yankee Stadium to interview a pitcher like R.A. Dickey but, quite honestly, I had as much fun. It was fun to hear the athletes’ lessons, but it was even more fun to do a project with my two sons and see it through and to see it now on the bookshelves.”
Gregory Zuckerman has Elijah Zuckerman to thank for the experience, as “Rising Above” was actually the brainchild of his younger son. The diehard sports fan was familiar with several athletes’ inspirational stories, but wanted to learn more. So he enlisted his older brother to look into it with him, and the two eventually approached their father with the idea of writing a book about the players they had found. Their dad thought it was an excellent idea, saying that everyone can relate to facing some sort of adversity in their lives.
From there the Zuckermans tracked down the athletes’ representatives and reached out to them for interviews. They did not get everyone they wanted — LeBron James and Dwayne Wade are featured in the book although they declined to be interviewed. But they said all the other athletes with whom they got in touch were eager to share their stories, and the family soon found themselves talking with mega-stars like National Basketball Association MVP Stephen Curry and U.S. men’s national soccer team standout Tim Howard.
For Elijah Zuckerman, it was an incredible experience, to say the least.
“It was unbelievable,” he told the Chronicle in a July 7 phone interview. “I always saw them playing. I didn’t think I would actually meet with them. And hearing these stories, it was so heart-touching.”
Gregory Zuckerman, who went on to write the book with input from his sons, agreed that each story they heard was a moving example of someone overcoming life’s hurdles to achieve their goals. The obstacles they faced were both physical and emotional, he pointed out. Baseball legend Jim Abbott was born without a right hand, yet he went on to pitch a no hitter while playing for the New York Yankees in 1993. Years later, Dickey did not let the trauma of being sexually abused as a boy stop him from winning the Cy Young Award in 2012.
What also impressed Gregory Zuckerman was the fact that many of the players featured in the book managed to turn whatever disadvantage they faced into an advantage that helped them get to where they are. For instance, though Howard was plagued with Tourette syndrome and obsessive compulsive disorder as a youth, Gregory Zuckerman said the pro soccer player developed a hyper-focus in dealing with his ailments that enabled him to become the exceptional goalkeeper he is today.
By writing about such stories, Gregory Zuckerman said he wanted to give young readers role models whose examples they can follow. Seeing how famous athletes conquered their own problems can inspire readers to do the same, he said, no matter what issues they are facing.
“We believe that everyone has some difference — it could be physical, emotional, economic,” Gregory Zuckerman said. “These (athletes) overcame so much. I think people can learn from them. I wanted my boys to learn from them, and I wanted to learn some lessons too. These are really inspirational, motivational stories.”
Elijah Zuckerman also thinks children and teens like him can take a lot away from the book, especially since it profiles famous athletes. Speaking from experience, he said many young people are extremely passionate about sports, so reading about their heroes defying the odds provides extra motivation for them to follow their own dreams. He said he learned a lot about life thanks to his involvement in writing the book.
“I learned that it doesn’t really matter what difference you have or what people think of you,” he said. “Just pick a goal and you can achieve it — no matter what.”
Becoming a published author is one goal that Elijah Zuckerman can check off his list, but his writing career is far from over. The Zuckermans are at work on a follow-up to “Rising Above” that focuses solely on female athletes, including Venus and Serena Williams, who already commented on the life of the late tennis legend Althea Gibson in “Rising Above.” Gregory Zuckerman said the book should come out in late 2017.
Meanwhile, Elijah Zuckerman is looking forward to continuing his own sports career both at school and in West Orange’s Mountain Top League, where his father serves as his soccer coach — even acclaimed father-son authors enjoy bonding through athletics the old-fashioned way.
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