In desperate times, a tale of triumph
Bitter rivalry that culminated with glory in the 1936 Olympics resumes
It started out as a little book about rowing. “The Boys in the Boat” chronicled how a hardscrabble crew from Washington state overcame bitter rival Cal and then stroked all the way to a 1936 Olympics gold medal in Adolf Hitler’s Berlin.
Then something curious happened. The book by Bay Area native Daniel James Brown got big. Best- seller big. So big, in fact, that Hollywood now has plans for this hidden gem of Depressionera history that had faded over the decades until
Brown unearthed the tale.
“The story reminded me of an America that climbed into a boat and learned to pull together so powerfully and so beautifully,” said Brown, who taught writing at San Jose State and Stanford before relocating to Redmond, Washington. “They were just a perfect metaphor for that generation.”
The 2013 book has been such a word- of- mouth sensation that today’s rowers say it has renewed interest in their grueling, graceful sport, which rarely receives much publicity. It’s also brought added attention to the decades- old rivalry between the country’s two best crews.
The ripples of time will lap against the shells on Seattle’s Montlake Cut this weekend astheUniversity of Washington and UC Berkeley — the schools central to Brown’s narrative — meet in a showdown for the 104th time. The 2,000- meter race is a tangible link to a bygone era when the regatta would be broadcast live on radio and draw 40,000 spectators to the Oakland Estuary and twice that many in rowingmad Seattle.
“When you read ‘ Boys in the Boat,’ that’s an American story,” said Craig Amerkhanian, a former Cal standout who now coaches Stanford. “It’s OK to suffer. It’s OK to work hard. It’s OK to be exhausted. That’s why our sport is as important today as ever — because these are strong lessons and part of the fabric of our country.”
But this book never would have happened without a series of fortuitous coincidences that connected a writer who knew nothing about rowing with the story’s hero just before he died.
Captivating life story
The U. S. rowing crew ( top) prevailed over the Germans ( bottom) to win the gold medal at the Berlin Olympics — right in front of a glowering Adolf Hitler. Left: Cal’s crew competes againstWisconsin on Saturday. best- seller list for almost a year, selling a total of 1.5 million copies. A film script is being developed for a period piece in the tradition of “Seabiscuit” and “Chariots of Fire.”
‘ Great exposure’