About the Author

Rita Liberti is professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education at California State University East Bay, USA.

Maureen M. Smith is professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Science at California State University Sacramento, USA.

Reviews

(Re)Presenting Wilma Rudolf explores the historical trajectory of stories about the great Olympic track star of the 1960s. The argument that structures the book highlights a variety of ways that particular media work in these constructions. In the end, as the authors clearly argue and demonstrate, these biographical accounts belong as much to those who construct and read them as they do to the person at their center. Their insights provide an important message for a celebrity-obsessed culture and for the focus on celebrity within the academic field of critical sport studies.-- "Susan Birrell, University of Iowa"

A delightfully engaging analysis of what can often be a frustrating cycle of collective memory in their monograph (Re)Presenting Wilma Rudolph. They actively reconsider what a biography is and provide an excellent study upon which we can ponder the processes of historical analysis. . . .The breadth and depth of their analysis is quite remarkable as they engage with feminist studies, critical race studies, disability studies, and the fields of biography and collective memory. It is in their writing and analysis that they outline exactly why and how cultural sport history might be done.-- "Sport in American History"