Sullivan, Russell

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Sullivan, Russell

PERSONAL:

Male.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Boston, MA.

CAREER:

Writer. Linkage, Inc., Burlington, MA, senior vice president and general counsel.

WRITINGS:

(With Philip J. Harkins and Stephen M. Brown) Outsourcing and Human Resources: Trends, Models, and Guidelines, LER Press (Lexington, MA), 1996.

Rocky Marciano: The Rock of His Times ("Sport and Society" series), University of Illinois Press (Urbana, IL), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Russell Sullivan writes from the perspective of a dedicated sports fan in Rocky Marciano: The Rock of His Times, a biography of the only heavyweight boxing champion to retire undefeated. Marciano, who reigned from 1952 to 1956, did not fight with finesse; though he retained a perfect record, his legacy has fallen into relative obscurity. Sullivan's book aims to restore Marciano's reputation as a great champion. His account of the boxer's life and career, critics noted, is thorough and scholarly. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly particularly appreciated the historical context that Sullivan provides about the boxing world in the 1950s, when superficial social conformity often hid darker realities such as racism. John Green, writing in Booklist, also praised the book's "broad scope." New York Times Book Review contributor Dave Anderson noted that "Sullivan does not pretend to be a boxing expert" and "wisely leans on the words of the best sportswriters of Marciano's era." The result, in Anderson's view, is a book that is "much more than a fan's adoring recital of Marciano's big fights." In addition to chronicling the highlights of the boxer's career, the book also reveals Marciano's flaws, including his marital infidelities and his cheapness with money. "More than anything else," Anderson concluded, "the book assesses Marciano in the context of his times."