Spend an Evening with Author Julie Checkoway - September 16th, 5:00pm
Julie Checkoway, local author and filmmaker, will discuss her most recent book, a New York Times bestseller, The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of the Maui Sugar Ditch Kids and Their Quest for Olympic Glory
Space is limited - Reserve your seat now!
Checkoway, a graduate of Harvard, the Iowa Writers Workshop, and the Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars, will speak about her 8-year process of researching and writing the book, which chronicles the story of coach and teacher Soichi Sakamoto who, in 1937, challenged Maui sugar plantation children, almost all of them Japanese American, to swim in the irrigation ditches and train to become, improbably, Olympic swimmers. The book was longlisted for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, described by Kirkus Reviews as “a brightly told story of the triumph of underdogs,” and by Publisher’s Weekly as a “sports history that is singular in its own right.” It was also a Barnes and Noble “Discover Great New Writers” selection.
Join Checkoway and fellow Harvard Club members for an enlightening evening in which you’ll learn about youngsters who were once hailed by the New York Times as the greatest swimmers in the world, but were forgotten by history and about their coach, who proved to the world that children in poverty could achieve greatness under the loving tutelage of an inspiring and driven teacher.
Checkoway, a former tenured professor at the University of Georgia and the University of Houston, has recently moved to Sacramento with her husband, Lee Thomsen, ‘89 and their two daughters.
Light snacks and refreshments will be served. Wine and beer will be available for purchase. RSVP today!