The Best that I Can Be: An Autobiography

After Rafer Johnson abandoned the Texas slums for the idyllic but all-white California town of Kingsburg, he adopted the rallying cry of "be the best that I can be." This cry defines the young African American's character and drives Johnson through racism and poverty to stardom on the track field at UCLA and to a dramatic Olympic gold in 1960. It helps him work graveyard shifts and serve burgers, as he trains for the grueling 10-event decathlon. And it spurs Johnson to run faster, leap higher, and throw farther than any other decathlete in history, despite injury, fatigue, and political pressure from cold war governments. (At a 1958 meet in Moscow, his "summit meeting" with Russian decathlete Vasily Kuznetsov is labeled as the clash of Communism versus the free world.)

But it's Rafer's wealth of accomplishments off the track that make this modestly recounted memoir one that must be told. His colorful life includes a stint as a Hollywood actor, a brief broadcasting career, friendships with Tom Brokaw, Muhammad Ali, and Marlon Brando, and a fling with feminist Gloria Steinem. Even more intriguing is his intimate relationship with the Kennedy family that sadly derails when Robert F. Kennedy is assassinated. Rafer--who helped wrestle the gun away from Sirhan Sirhan--is deeply affected by his friend's death, but plows forward to champion goodwill projects such as Eunice Kennedy's Special Olympics. It's standard fare for Rafer Johnson and yet another example of his commitment to be the best he can be. --Rob McDonald