George Plimpton

George Plimpton

Mostly known now for his landmark book "Paper Lion", about his exploits on the 1963 Detroit Lions, George Plimpton was one of the founders of the New Journalism movement in the mid 1960s.

Typically writing from the angle of a novice - and one that is ill-equipped, at that - who participates in sports (or in other areas, such as an orchestra, for example) with typically bad and humourous results - as well as interesting insight into the processes of the game.

His first book on sports was "Out of my league", about his pitching attempt during the 1960 All-star game. He continued writing from this angle, both for Sports Illustrated (the best known being "The curious case of Sydd Finch", a fictional story about a pitcher that could throw at 250 km/h) and for books, which included "Paper Lion" (his experience at the training camp of the 1963 Detroit Lions), "Open Net" (his experience playing goalie for the Boston Bruins), "The Bogey Man" (him on the PGA tour) and "Shadow box" (A two part book - the first being a three-round match with Archie Moore and the second about attending the "Rumble in the Jungle".

He died in 2003 at the age of 76