Rena Glickman identified professionally as Rusty Kanokogi was a Jewish girl from Coney Island who grew up to turn out to be a judo master at a time when the sport was strictly for males. Disguised as a man she entered and won the 1959 YMCA Judo Championship but was forced to give back her medal when it was found that she was a lady. Never ever wanting that to take place to an additional female she set out to make women’s judo a well-known sport about the planet. Her fight for equality resulted in the very first Women’s Judo Globe Championship and turning women’s judo into an Olympic sport.
Considering that Eve Nadel Catarevas is a single of my critique partners I was fortunate sufficient to be an early reader of this project and so thrilled to see her difficult function spend off with her debut book. A single fearless determined lady writing about an additional fearless determined lady! Currently Eve and I talk about the accurate story RENA GLICKMAN QUEEN OF JUDO:
Was there a single thing—a precise scene quote or image from Rena’s Glickman’s life—that guided you all through the writing course of action?
It was a quote. Rusty (I’ve normally employed Rena’s nickname) normally mentioned “In life you are either the hammer or the nail. Be the hammer.” It does not get much more simple than that!
Whilst researching this book which reality shocked you?
Rusty was so committed to holding the very first Women’s Judo Globe Championships (at Madison Square Garden) that she mortgaged her personal household.
Why do you believe children can relate to Rusty?
Girls nowadays are taught to go soon after what they want. That wasn’t a common precept in the 1950s but that is specifically what Rusty did. Obstacles did not deter her. Rusty forged ahead.
Which sources had been vital in producing this biography?
There had been no books on Rusty. I employed just about every magazine newspaper and on the net short article I could obtain. Fortunately I discovered Rusty’s daughter. She was invaluable.
How did you choose the timeframe for your book?
Rusty’s childhood was so rife with drama (a lot of it did not make it into the book – also dark) I knew I had to get started there. The culmination of the story was women’s judo becoming at extended final an Olympic sport.
How did you identify if data must be integrated in the story or the back matter?
Ooh that is a very good query Karlin. I can not inform you how normally I place in and take out data through the writing course of action. In a single draft it is portion of back matter subsequent draft it is portion of the text and lastly it is out altogether. But not genuinely due to the fact I will have a modify of heart and back it goes just written differently. Back matter is exactly where I place components that are relevant to the subject’s life story but never serve the story. It really is exactly where I home statistics or inroads produced beyond my subject’s lifetime.
If you could choose the perfect spot for a storywalk for this book exactly where would it be?
The streets of Coney Island exactly where Rusty grew up the spot that helped her turn out to be an independent powerful-willed lady who would cease at practically nothing to attain her dream – and to encourage other people to do the exact same.
What is your #1 tip for writing accurate stories?
Ferret out as a lot supply material as you can. Dig dig then dig some much more. You never ever know when you are going to come across that cease-you-in-your-tracks quote or anecdote—the a single that pulls the entire story collectively.
What other books would you suggest to readers who like Rena Glickman Queen of Judo?
HER FEARLESS RUN: Kathrine Switzer’s Historic Run by Kim Chaffee & Ellen Rooney and BILLIE JEAN!: How Tennis Star Billie Jean King Changed Women’s Sports by Mara Rockliff & Elizabeth Baddeley.
Thank you Eve for becoming the hammer (wink!) and for taking the time to chat about this kick-butt biography!
Correct STORY TIDBITS:
Spirited and empowering this book (with its “Kapow!” cover) is on 4 shelves in my TrueStory Bookshop:
*Women’s History
*Athletes
*Activists
*Jewish Heritage Stories
Just about every day is a very good day for a accurate story! But right here are some unique tie-in dates for RENA GLICKMAN QUEEN OF JUDO.
*February (very first Wednesday in February): National Girls and Girls in Sports Day raises awareness about the good elements of sports and the continued need to have to market gender equality in just about every way.
*June 23 (1972): The day Title IX was signed into law. Title IX prohibits sex-primarily based discrimination in any college or any other education plan that receives funding from the federal government.
*July 30 (1935): Rena Glickman’s birthday.
*August 21 (2009): YMCA provides Rusty back the medal she was stripped of 50 years earlier.
*September 25 (1988): Initially Olympic Women’s Judo competitors (This was a demonstration tournament with no medals. Following that Women’s Judo became a complete medal Olympic sport.)
*October 28: Globe Judo Day celebrates the martial art and the birthday of its founder Kanō Jigorō.
Eve Nadel Catarevas is also the author of Superb HAIR: The Beauty of Annie Malone illustrated by Felicia Marshall and published by Creston Books.
Kicking It With Eve Nadel Catarevas, Author of RENA GLICKMAN, QUEEN OF JUDO
