Title: The Olympian Leap: The Life and Legacy of Josh Culbreath
Author: Cynthia Culbreath
Publisher: Fulton Books, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1638603412
Pages: 318
Genre: Biography
Reviewer: Subhrajit Saha
Hollywood Book Reviews
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy; the popular idiom feels more relevant and a timeless statement when you learn about the importance of sports in building a character. It helps to make yourself resilient both physically and mentally. The memoir book by Cynthia Culbreath on her cousin, champion sports person Joshua Culbreath makes you remember every word of it. American athlete Josh Culbreath, the Olympic bronze winner shows how sports can be a weapon to fight poverty, to reach beyond the stereotypes, and to make a random place well known to the whole nation. This biography offers the legend’s journey from his childhood days to high school, getting introduced to sprint, 400-meter hurdles and many other games. Gradually Josh finds his true self in sports and thus it becomes his life.
As for the narration style, the book seems like a documentation with words by the author herself, numerous statements on Josh’s journey by his close associates, his own interviews, newspaper cuts, images supporting the stories on him and so on. All these things made the book The Olympian Leap: The Life and Legacy of Josh Culbreath, authentic to its nature. The treatment of the book is nonlinear, which adds depth making it more enriched.
The book is full of jaw dropping information like Josh grew up in Norristown, a Borough in Pennsylvania. Legendary baseball pitcher and manager Tommy LaSorda grew up in the same neighborhood. As well as this kind of interesting fact, the insiders like his struggling days when he doesn’t have any proper infrastructure to practice for the sport. Even his parents could not help him on this point due to their financial condition, yet his patience, passion, and hard work made him one of the finest athletes of the nation. The book also has information about ‘The Flying Four’ – Morgan State’s Quartet: Herman Wade, Otis Johnson, Jimmy Rogers and Josh Culbreath.
Cynthia’s narration covers how his whole neighborhood felt proud of his achievement. There are a few emotional moments like the legend meeting the author for the first time, in his early days he seems determined to earn the scholarship for his further study, or quality time with Robert Satterwhite, getting numerous accolades all his life including prestigious Olympic medals to getting inducted in US Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame, coaches Hall of Fame etc. depicting raw emotions where as a reader you will get emotional and attached to the life of Josh. ‘The Olympian Leap’ also gives a sneak peek to the other skills of the legend like how good he was as a trainer, educator, speaker, and he knows many languages and other things.
The more you learn about the legend the more you feel awestruck by his achievements. In addition to that, if you are a sports lover then this book will seem like heaven in hand. For the readers not very familiar with sports and the associated topics the narration covers then as well they will get engrossed because of Cynthia’s storytelling style. There are multiple details in the book like basic facts related to the Olympic games, additional information about the backstory of the game, not using jargon, and so on making it easier to understand to every kind of reader. Overall if you have a positive attitude towards life and have a goal to achieve then this book can be a good option to boost your mental support as it shows whatever might be the situation, if you are determined, you can achieve anything in life. From humble beginnings to global acclaim, Culbreath’s story is one of determination and discipline. A must-read for fans of sports history and anyone in need of real-life inspiration. Powerful, emotional, and unforgettable, this story has all the makings to become a feature film.