Moore, Kenny 1943–

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Moore, Kenny 1943–

(Kenneth Clark Moore)

PERSONAL:

Born December 1, 1943, in Portland, OR; son of Melvin Clark (a salesman) and Marian Lois Moore; married Roberta Conlan, November 22, 1968 (divorced, 1979). Education: University of Oregon, B.A., 1966, M.F.A., 1972; attended Stanford University, 1966-67.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Eugene, OR.

CAREER:

Writer and journalist. Georgia Pacific Corp., Eugene, OR, mill worker, 1962-66; freelance writer, 1970-80; Sports Illustrated, New York, NY, senior writer, 1980-95; also appeared in films Personal Best, 1980, and Tequila Sunrise, 1988. Director of Oregon Track Club, 1971—; member of athletes advisory council to U.S. Olympic Committee, 1973-80; member of international competition committee of Athletics Congress, 1977-80. Chairman of Steve Prefontaine Foundation, 1976-79. Consultant to Warner Brothers, 1980. Military service: U.S. Army, 1968-70.

AWARDS, HONORS:

National AAU cross-country champion, 1967; six-time San Francisco Bay-to-Breakers 15k road-race champion, 1968-73; National AAU marathon champion, 1971; Journalism award from Road Runners Club of America, 1980, for career-long service to the sport.

WRITINGS:

World Class, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1981.

(With Robert Towne; also executive producer) Without Limits (screenplay), Warner Bros., 1998.

Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder, foreword by Phil Knight, Rodale (Emmaus, PA), 2006.

Contributor of news articles, features, and profiles to periodicals, including Runner's World and Sports Illustrated.

SIDELIGHTS:

Kenny Moore once told CA: "Twice an Olympic marathoner, I found it important to make an athlete's experience understandable to a wider readership. With a marathoner's stubbornness, I still feel it important to try, but now have fewer illusions about the chances of success. I plan to wander farther afield (toward fiction, drama, film), probably writing with increasing self-centered eccentricity."

Although Moore has gone on to work in film, his second book relates to his career as a sports journalist. Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder tells the story of Bill Bowerman, who led the University of Oregon's track team to several national championships and individual team members to world records and Olympic medals. Bowerman is also often credited with introducing the concept of "jogging" to the general public. Moore, who was coached by Bowerman at the Univer- sity of Oregon, provides a biographical look at Bowerman's life, from his time as a youth and a commander in the Pacific during World War II to his coaching days in Oregon and his co-founding of one of the most successful sporting companies in the U.S. history. The author also provides an in-depth look at Bowerman's extremely successful training methods. Alan Moores, writing in Booklist, noted the author's "congenial style, making for a biography that deserves a place in sports collections." A Publishers Weekly contributor called Bowerman and the Men of Oregon "an inspiring and touching look at the man who made Eugene, Ore., the running capital of the U.S."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 1, 2006, Alan Moores, review of Bowerman and the Men of Oregon: The Story of Oregon's Legendary Coach and Nike's Cofounder, p. 54.

Publishers Weekly, February 27, 2006, review of Bowerman and the Men of Oregon, p. 46.