Billie Jean King pens book about her life, tennis
Billie Jean King has a memoir coming this summer, and she’s calling it a journey to her “authentic self.”
Alfred A. Knopf announced Thursday that “All In: An Autobiography” will be published Aug. 17.
It will cover the highlights of her celebrated and groundbreaking tennis career, including her 39 Grand Slam titles and her defeat of Bobby Riggs in the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match in 1973.
King, 77, will also write about her activism on behalf of women in tennis and beyond.
She’ll also include such private struggles as an eating disorder and acknowledge her sexual identity.
She was married to Larry King (no relation to the late broadcaster) for more than a decade before being outed in 1981.
She has said she did not feel entirely comfortable being gay until she was 51.
King published a memoir in the early 1980s, “Billie Jean King: The Autobiography,” but says she rushed it out at the urging of her then-manager, who was concerned about her finances in the wake of her outing.
“That book was incomplete and written at a moment when I was not ready to share my truth,” she said in a statement to The Associated Press.
“’All In’ is the first portrait of my life in full, told in my own words.”
“All In” is being edited by Jonathan Segal, who has worked on memoirs by Andre Agassi and Arthur Ashe.
Scholarship created to honor Reinking
Long before she became a Tony Award-winning choreographer, Ann Reinking waited tables to save up enough money to move to New York City. She arrived with $500, no job lined up and no connections.
When she died at 71 last year, Reinking left behind many fans, friends and students as well as a legacy of a cool, muscular dance hybrid of jazz and burlesque.
In her honor, friends and admirers have established The Ann Reinking
Scholarship, a $5,000 annual award and mentorship for a young dancer moving to New York City to help support them in their artistic endeavors.
“She was one of the most profoundly generous people that I’ve known,” says Bebe Neuwirth, a two-time Tony winner who costarred with Reinking in “Chicago” on Broadway. “This honors that in a way that also references her story of coming to New York.”
The scholarship is being awarded by Off the Lane, a mentorship program for
A scholarship has been created in honor of the late Tony Award-winning dancer and choreographer Ann Reinking.
young performers moving to New York.
It will be open to anyone, from anywhere, with a cut-off age of 21.
Prince Philip has successful heart procedure surgery
Prince Philip has had a successful heart procedure at a London hospital and is expected to remain for several days of “rest and recuperation,” Buckingham Palace said Thursday.
The palace said the 99year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth II “underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.”
In other royal news, the palace said it is launching an investigation after a newspaper reported that a former aide had accused Meghan Markle, duchess of Sussex and wife of Prnce Harry, of bullying staff in 2018.