I Am Proud: The Athletes of Special Olympics($58.83Value)

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In 1968, Eunice Kennedy Shriver took issue with the notion that peoplewith mental disabilities are simply too different to belong, to befriends, or to deserve a good education, quality medical care, or achance in sport and in life. By founding Special Olympics she opened thedoors to a world where everyone has a chance to be a champion.Twenty-three years later Richard Corman discovered that world and puthis own considerable gifts to work documenting the spirit and courageof Special Olympics athletes. His amazing photographs capture theenergy and excitement of men and women, boys and girls from around theworld as they display their skills and celebrate their gifts.I Am Proud unites Corman's inspiring images with messages frominternational leaders about the impact of the Special Olympicsmovement and its athletes on their lives. In portraying the athletes'dignity, grace, and joy in competition, the book brings freshperspective to a group of people too often defined by their perceiveddisabilities, and creates a new awareness of the incredible potentialof the human spirit.Special Olympics is an international program of year-roundsports training and athletic competition for children and adults withmental retardation. One million Special Olympics athletes in 150countries around the world take part in more than 20,000 competitionseach year.Special Olympics got its start in 1968 when Eunice KennedyShriver organized the first International Special Olympics Games atSoldier Filed in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Children and adults whoparticipate in Special Olympics benefit from improved physical fitnessand motor skills, greater self-confidence, a more positive self-image,friendships, and increased family support. Special Olympicsathletes carry these benefits with them into their daily lives athome, in the classroom, on the job, and in the community.Today, Special Olympics is reaching out to the 170 millionindividuals with mental retardation around the world. The movement iscommitted to doubling the number of athletes involved in SpecialOlympics to 2 million by 2005.About the Richard Corman's photographs leap beyond the external andmagnificently capture the soul, grace, and passion of each individual.Whether the subject is Muhammad Ali, Jack Nicholson, Nelson Mandela,or Special Olympics athlete Dejan Avramovski, Corman captures stark,elegant images that convey the depth of the human spirit. Since 1991,Corman has donated his services to Special Olympics, recording thestrength, the pride, and the potential of its athletes.Corman's work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, SportsIllustrated, and Vogue . Glory , a book of Corman'sphotographs of athletes, was published in 1999. Veteran photographer Corman's striking, large-scale portraits of well-known athletes were showcased in Glory (1999). Here he turns to another kind of athlete--the competitors in the Special Olympics--but his images are no less remarkable. The oversize, often close-up, black-and-white photos of men and women, boys and girls, of all ages who participated in the Special Olympics from 1990 through 2002 certainly capture the thrill of victory, but they do much more. In the faces of these competitors, you see neither the icy determination of Tiger Woods nor the intimidating scowl of Shaquille O'Neal; rather, you find the unabashed joy that so often seems absent in the eyes of today's professional athletes--in the full-face smiles of a girls' basketball team in Ecuador, for example, arms draped over one another's shoulders, or in the mischievous grin of a young equestrian in New Zealand. Even more, you see pride in these faces, pride of accomplishment, pride of participation. Various dignitaries--Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou--provide inspirational quotes, but the pictures speak far louder than the words. Ilene Cooper Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved