Cahill U S Marshal (1973)

Remembering Pistol Pete

I love reading biographies, especially sports biographies about extraordinary people. I finished this book last week and really enjoyed Mark Kriegel's journey into the life of Pete Maravich.

As a young basketball fan growing up in the 1970s, I remember Pistol Pete being somewhat of an enigma -- a fragile, high-scoring showman who always seemed to be on bad teams. This book is far more than a basketball book -- it chronicles Pete's life from even before he was born (you have to know Pete's father, Press Maravich, to know Pete). It's a story about a person who was molded by his father to be a basketball superstar ... the first million-dollar player. He became that, but it came at a price.

Pete was many things -- phenomenal, unusual, extraordinary, eccentric, melancholy, desperate, sad, needy, paranoid .... . It wasn't until he got on his knees and cried out to God one sleepless night that this skinny, 6-5 bundle of destructive contradictions was saved from himself. More than anything, this book is a testament to the grace, mercy and unending love of God. Toward the end of Pete's short life (he died at 42 of a heart attack), he gave his testimony in front of groups small and large. He became a completely different person ... what the New Testament calls "a new creation."

This book was given to me for my birthday by my step-son, Nicholas.