Brown talks about 'Role of a Lifetime'

“Role of a Lifetime” by James Brown (with Nathan Whitaker), 2009, Faith Words, $24.99/$29.99 Canada, 203 pages: It’s Sunday afternoon, and there’s nowhere else you’d rather be than in front of your TV. You’ve got chips, liquid refreshment, the remote and you’re wearing your lucky slippers. Gotta support the team, you know.
But as you reach for a snack, you miss the game for just a second and something happened. You didn’t catch it. Argh! You’re momentarily lost. Thank goodness for sportscasters, right?
But what do you know about the folks who bring you the nuances of the game? Learn about one of them by reading “Role of a Lifetime” by James Brown (with Nathan Whitaker).
From almost the moment he was born in February 1951, Brown says he was a “mama’s boy.” Mrs. Brown ruled the family with an iron glove covered in velvet. She demanded excellence from her five children, and she raised them with Bible verses on her lips. Mr. Brown worked hard for his family at various jobs and likewise expected results. His parents’ high examples, moralities and life-lessons are the ideals that James Brown still carries with him.
Despite that he’s most famous for his work with FOX and CBS during football games, Brown’s first love was basketball. He was fortunate, he says, to have had good and honest mentors during his teenhood, and he worked hard to make them proud. His athleticism garnered attention from several colleges, but, with the idea of a “fall-back career” in mind, he attended Harvard. Following a disappointing summer in Atlanta when Brown was turned down by basketball’s Atlanta Hawks, he took his business degree and stepped into the corporate world.
And while he was there, he learned lessons that sustained him through his career, first on local TV stations in the Washington, D.C. area, later, with FOX and now with CBS Sports.
There are seven “ingredients” that make success, says Brown: “Good Communication Skills, Appearance, Personal Relations, Punctuality, Thirst for Knowledge, Being a Team Player, and Overcoming Adversity.” Put them all together, and you’ve got a winning combination. Wow.
I didn’t much like “Role of a Lifetime” at first. The first few pages made me think this was just going to be another look-at-me sports bio, and I’ve had enough of them.
But I kept reading. I’m glad I did.
Author Brown has written a book that goes beyond sports (although there’s plenty of that for any fan). This book is part motivational for any young person who wants to be a success. It’s part business, for anyone who needs a cautionary tale or two for advice. It’s part testimony to faith, which makes it an easy gift for anybody. “Role of a Lifetime” offers relationship advice as Brown talks about his parents’ marriage as well as his own.
And it’s, of course, a biography about the friendly face you see each week on the TV but might not know a thing about.
But now here’s your chance. Pick up a copy of “Role of a Lifetime” and enjoy. If you’re a business-minded sports fan, this is an unbeatable book.

‘MARRIAGE’ REVIEW
“Barack and Michelle: Portrait of am American Marriage” by Christopher Anderson, 2009, Wm. Morrow, $25.99/$33.99 Canada, 326 pages, includes notes: You were definitely ill-prepared.
There you were, ready to “take the plunge” and get married, when you suddenly realized you didn’t know a thing about where you were diving.
You were in deep already, that’s for sure. Deep pockets (weddings can get out of hand), deep confusion (who are all these people, anyhow?) and deep dismay (do you really know your fiancé?). But then it was over and you started life together, sink or swim. You’ve been floating along side-by-side ever since.
Now imagine living your married lives with an interested audience of several billion people. Read more in “Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage” by Christopher Anderson.
The childhood and early years of Barack and Michelle Obama has been visited and re-visited by many biographers and journalists: she was working for a law firm, he was a law student.
She was assigned to be his in-office mentor, he insistently wooed her. That, of course, is how a strong-willed, leader-type born in Hawaii ended up married to a strong-willed, leader-type born on Chicago’s South Side.
But what most people don’t know are the behind-the-scenes scenes in the marriage of our current president and his wife.
From the time he started college at Columbia University in New York, Barack (Anderson refers to both Obamas by first name) was an easy-going idealist who, perhaps due to his grandparents’ blue-collar background, wanted to “give back” and “change the world.” Michelle shared his views but was easily irritated by what she saw as irresponsibility.
Because Barack eschewed the private sector and doggedly pursued lower-paying employment with higher social returns, the couple struggled with money problems. His absences while pursuing public office made her feel like a single mother.
She hated his smoking habit and his messiness. He hated being apart from his family.
They fought.
Though infidelity wasn’t an issue, she was angered when his star started rising and women aggressively flirted with him.
He, too, was taken aback by it, but he was focused: he thought he had a shot at the presidency. She told him that if he didn’t win in 2008, there wouldn’t be a second go at the job.
Being familiar with author Anderson’s past works, I was surprised that I really didn’t like this book at first.
Much of what’s in the first hundred pages of “Barack and Michelle” is a re-hashing of what we already know, including info from Barack Obama’s own books.
I didn’t need to read that old news again.
Despite that, though, I began to enjoy Anderson’s take on the lives of the Obamas, as well as their children and surrounding family. In the end, yes, this book reiterates what we already know, but, perhaps because of some teasing “wow!” tidbits and a few little-known stories, Anderson seems to make it all fresh.
Supporter or detractor, if you long to make sense of the man (and wife) behind the office, pick up this biography. “Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage” is a book you’ll enjoy diving into.