Peggy Fleming
The Long Program
Skating Toward Life's Victories
Pocket Books
2000
This should be required reading for every teenaged girl. It's an inspirational tale of what it took a woman to succeed in the Olympics, and in life. She starts out talking about the "Long Program" in skating, and how she's related it to a plan for living. Peggy Fleming's focus on one thing that she really loved paid off after prolonged hard work without depriving her of anything worthwhile, such as her children and a wonderful family.
Fleming was an athlete at a time that things were in transition for women in the field. She competed at a time when women were just beginning to be recognized as true competitors, not just decorative accents at competitive events, or steroid-pumped bodies made to resemble male jocks. She tells of the difficulties she encountered because of the fact that most competitive skaters were from families with financial advantages hers didn't have, and the sacrifices her family made in order for her to spend the time on the ice she needed to perfect her craft. She had her own dreams which helped change the view of the sport and the art of skating, dreams it took many years to achieve, along with the help of some extraordinary coaches.
Throughout, and at the end when she looks back and reviews her life, Ms. Fleming shares a lot of common sense advice on how to deal with unanticipated difficulties that come up in the course of the "Long Program", how to get up and keep going when you do a "face plant" (fall down on the ice) and how even the best planning doesn't prevent your being touched by illness or other negatives. Despite her lifelong devotion to physical fitness, breast cancer still struck, and she shares her story of her road to recovery.
Her story includes anecdotes about how the little things are important:
In 1991, the year before Mom died, I was preparing for a world tour, also semi- officially known as Champions on Ice, or the Tom Collins Tour. Tom's a skater and promoter whom I first met when he managed Holiday on Ice. Bob Paul and I were working out a number, and Mom, who was in a wheelchair at the time, came down to watch.
I was already well into my mature style of skating, but Mom still saw Little Peggy out there. "Be sure you include those little toe turns in the encore," she advised, "they always loved that."
"Oh, Mom!" I thought, "Here I am in my forties, and you are still putting in those moves from when I was a teenager."
I kept my thoughts to myself and, for that rehearsal, I put those moves in. Mom was happy. Within a year she was gone.
Conclusion
This is a truly inspirational and enjoyable read. These days, participation in sports is more common for girls but it's still not universally accepted. This is an important story about how athletic pursuits, even just for general health and fitness, are a vital part of life for every woman. It's also about behavior that and a way of thinking that leads to success and the ability to feel good about life.
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