“What books are you taking with you (to the beach or on vacation) this summer, and why are you looking forward to reading them?”
Phil Knight
CHAIRMAN, NIKE INC.
“TheYiddish Policemen’s Union,” by Michael Chabon
“OnChesil Beach,” by Ian McEwan
Rich Gotham
PRESIDENT, BOSTON CELTICS
“TheRoad,” by Cormac McCarthy. “A favorite author of mine. This one’s a father-son roadstory, and I get to spend a lot more time with my 6-year-old son during thesummer, so it seems like a good time to read it. Of course, it being CormacMcCarthy, the backdrop is a post-apocalyptic nuclear winter, so maybe I shouldwait for a rainy day to read it.”
“Blink,”by Malcolm Gladwell. “He also wrote ‘The Tipping Point,’ which was a must readback in my Internet and software industry days. Have to prevent the businessmind from getting dulled during the offseason!”
Billy Beane
VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, OAKLAND ATHLETICS
“I just finished Anthony Everitt’s biography ‘Augustus,’ soI’m now in the middle of the one he wrote previously, ‘Cicero.’”
The Gibbon series [‘The Decline and Fall of the RomanEmpire’] is still intimidating me! I also just picked up the new biography onAaron Burr. I had read the Chernow biography on Alexander Hamilton, so thisshould be an interesting counter.”
John Walsh
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ESPN “Long Time Leaving: Dispatches From UpSouth,” by Roy Blount Jr.
“TheView From Castle Rock: Stories by Alice Munro”
“TheLooming Tower,” by Lawrence Wright
“Roy is very funny, Alice very insightful and LawrenceWright is a great reporter.”Rick Perko
PRESIDENT, IMMERSION MEDIA
“OpeningDay,” by Jonathan Eig. “I studied this [Jackie Robinson] story pretty extensivelyin grad school and want to reconnect to it on the 60th anniversary.”
“Clemente,”by David Maraniss. “He was one of my heroes growing up, though I was barelyold enough toremember him. I wouldlike to remember why I was so enamored with him.”
Sunil Gulati
PRESIDENT, U.S. SOCCER FEDERATION AND KRAFT SOCCER
“GodIs Not Great,” by Christopher Hitchens. “I guess I’ll find out if the book is as provocative as thetitle.”
“TheKite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini. “A couple of friends have given it two thumbs up.”
“NoOrdinary Time,” by Doris Kearns Goodwin. “D.C. United President Kevin Payne gave it to me.”
Rick Burton
COMMISSIONER, NATIONAL BASKETBALL LEAGUE “Seaof Glory,” by Nathaniel Philbrick.
“Philbrick is a brilliant historian, and I love Americanhistory involving the sea.”
“TheLast Supper,” by Charles McCarry.
“This is my summer spy novel and features one of America’sless-discussed great thriller authors.”
“America’sGame,” by Michael MacCambridge.
“This was required reading at the NFL by Paul Tagliabue. Ibelieve any league — but perhaps particularly the NBL — can learn from ahistorical review of economic, social and cultural values that shaped a sportand its fan base. I believe the old adage about learning from history to avoidmaking the same mistakes.”Phil Hochberg
SPORTS ATTORNEY
“TheGashouse Gang,” by John Heidenry
“TheVoice: Mel Allen’s Untold Story,” by Curt Smith
“Nixonand Kissinger,” by Robert Dallek
“TalesFrom Q School,” by John Feinstein
Steve Raab
PRESIDENT, SNY
“OpeningDay,” by Jonathan Eig
“Click,Clack, Moo: Cows That Type,” by Doreen Cronin. “While I have readthis almost 1,000 times, I am looking forward to reading it again because it’smy daughter’s favorite book.”
Randy Freer
PRESIDENT, FSN REGIONAL NETWORKS “TheReagan Diaries,” by Ronald Reagan.
“I think it will be an interesting personal look at thedaily happenings at the White House, a different perspective on recenthistory.”Mary Wittenberg
PRESIDENT AND CEO, NEW YORK ROAD RUNNERS
“AThousand Splendid Suns,” by Khaled Hosseini
“Chocolateson the Pillow Aren’t Enough: Reinventing the Customer Experience,” by JonathanTisch
Steve Solomon
PRESIDENT AND CEO, SJS SPORTS
“LetMe Finish,” by Roger Angell. “A memoir of Angell’s youth growing up in New York with hismother and his stepfather, E.B. White.”
“ChristineFalls,” by Benjamin Black. “An alias for this first mystery novel by John Banville.”
“TheTender Bar,” by J.R. Moehringer. “I enjoy memoirs, and this is going to be a greatcoming-of-age story.”
Clay Walker
CHAIRMAN, FANTASY SPORTS ASSOCIATION “The Republicof Pirates,” by Colin Woodard.
“Our kids are completely fascinated with pirates, and Ineed to increase my pirate knowledge so that I will be able to tell them newpirate stories at the beach this summer.”Zak Brown
FOUNDER AND CEO, JUST MARKETING INTERNATIONAL
“CommunicatingGlobally,” by Don Schultz and Philip Kitchen. “Welive in a global world, and you better understand cultural differences tosucceed.”
“Builtto Last,” by Jim Collins. “I liked his book ‘Good to Great’ for businessinspiration.”
“PresidentialCourage,” by Michael Beschloss. “It’s about presidents’ tough and sometimes unpopulardecisions that are ultimately the right ones.”
Buster Olney
ESPN Baseball Writer “The death of David Halberstam has megoing back and rereading his books — right now ‘The Powers That Be,’ and ‘TheBreaks of the Game’ is on deck — to remember David and to define extraordinaryreporting for myself again.Becky Saeger
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CMO, CHARLES SCHWAB CORP.
“The Looming Tower,” by Lawrence Wright. “I’vebeen putting it off but will next read this book that I’ve been told is amazingand daunting context for current events.”
“Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life,” byBarbara Kingsolver. “I love this writer, and it’s aboutthe next big cause — eating local, if not home-grown, food.”
| This is the first installment in a series on what top sports executives are reading this summer. The responses were compiled by New York bureau chief Jerry Kavanagh. |
