Home Author Endorsements Publisher Contact

Haynes Bridge Publishing:

A Hearing for Jim Thorpe

SAN	857-5355
ISBN	978-0-9822039-0-3
POD Printer	BookSurge
Page Count	116
Trim Size	6" x 9"
Binding	Softcover
List Price	$14.95
Pub. Date	01/28/2009
Author	Michael L. Sheaffer

Haynes Bridge Publishing

We are a small publishing company based in Johns Creek, near the city of Atlanta, GA USA. Actually, we have only one title in our catalog so far - we are still in a learning phase. As you can imagine this is not a full time enterprise, not yet, and might never be. However, when we do publish a title we try our utmost best to keep just as high quality as any other publisher does. We have great respect for the trade, and we seriously care about our customers.

We are an internet company, so you have come to the right place for information about our releases and us.

Press Release:

Legend Jim Thorpe gets his day in court

Carlisle native Michael Sheaffer pens historical fiction about American hero stripped of 1912 Olympic gold medals.

By Jason Scott, Sentinel Reporter, Carlisle, PA - March 1, 2009

The Cumberland County Courthouse clerk rises and calls for Jim Thorpe to take the stand.

The 1912 Olympic gold medalist in the pentathlon and decathlon gets up and makes his way to the front of the Carlisle courtroom.

After swearing on the Bible, Thorpe reaches into his pocket and pulls out a letter he sent to James Sullivan, president of the Amateur Athletic Union on Jan. 26, 1913 — a letter in which he admitted playing professional base-ball prior to the Stockholm Games.

“I never realized until now what a big mistake I made by keeping it a secret about my ball playing, and I am sorry I do so. I hope I will be partly excused by the fact that I was simply an Indian schoolboy and did not know all about such things,” he read. “In fact, I did not know that I was doing wrong, because I was doing what I knew several other college men had done, except that they did not use their own names.”

The letter was real, but it did not help Thorpe. The court hearing, set in July 1915, comes from the imagination of author Michael Sheaffer and is part of his book, “A Hearing for Jim Thorpe: An Exercise in Frustration.”

In reality, the AAU decided to retroactively withdraw Thorpe’s amateur status and asked the International Olympic Commission to do the same.

The IOC agreed. Stripping Thorpe of his Olympic medals and title, it declared him a professional and removed him from the record book.

Thorpe was never granted a hearing, but many years after his death, he was reinstated by the IOC. Later, his family was presented with commemorative medals to recognize his Olympic accomplishments.

Sheaffer’s fictional story is told from the perspective of a sports reporter named Bud Murphy who arrives in Carlisle to cover the five-day proceeding held to determine the guilt or innocence of the legendary sports hero and student at the Carlisle Indian School.

Sheaffer paints a picture of what Carlisle looked like at the time, using borough landmarks like the old courthouse, Hamilton Restaurant and the Molly Pitcher Hotel in his tale of passion that not only celebrates the life of an American hero but also speculates on what might have been.