A Hearing For Jim Thorpe »

Michael L. Sheaffer is a freelancer, online editor, author, and national training instructor.

It is no accident that he is the one to offer all the facts about Jim Thorpe in his riveting book entitled "A Hearing for Jim Thorpe, an Exercise in Frustration." Michael grew up in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and feels closely assimilated to the memoirs of this famous athlete, his childhood hero.

In 1969, Mr. Sheaffer was appointed to chair a committee called "Project Jim Thorpe." The goal of this international organization was to have Jim Thorpe reinstated as the winner of the 1912 Olympic Pentathlon and Decathlon event. Michael spent years researching and gathering the facts revolving around the unfortunate situation with Jim Thorpe, as part of "Project Jim Thorpe".

Mr. Sheaffer is retired and currently lives with his wife, Angela, in Alpharetta, Georgia.

A Hearing for Jim Thorpe: An Exercise in Frustration by Michael Sheaffer offers a thoroughly original approach on the controversy surrounding the Jim Thorpe Olympic tragedy of 1912 and suggests what might have happened had Thorpe had the opportunity to present his case in a court of law, and in the court of public opinion.

When a sports reporter named Bud Murphy arrives in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to cover the hearing of Thorpe, he finds himself a witness to more than a simple court proceeding. Thorpe was the hero of the 1912 Stockholm Summer Olympics where he won two gold medals. But, when the Amateur Athletic Union charged that Thorpe had competed as a professional, before the start of the games, Thorpe was stripped of all his glory, medals, and his reputation. For five days Murphy witnesses the crowded proceedings and interviews the key players in the drama, slowly piecing together the truth and travesty that made up the controversy that became Thorpe's sport's legacy.

A Hearing for Jim Thorpe offers a mesmerizing tale that makes the life of a real American sports hero. Written with frank honesty and a touch of humor, A Hearing for Jim Thorpe: And Exercise in Frustration is an eye-opening and original take on one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in the history of American Olympic sports. This book is sure to please anyone who loves sports history, but it will appeal to everyone who enjoys a great story well told.