BOOK REVIEW

Title: Clemente

Author: David Maraniss

In ten words or less: Terrific biography of the Pittsburgh Pirate great.

Review: Roberto Clemente was the first great Latin American baseball star. The right fielder with the amazing arm spent 18 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and died in 1972 in a tragic plane crash, while delivering relief supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims. “Clemente never held anything back from the people and gave them more than they had any right to expect from him,” said Joe Brown, Pirates general manager.

Author David Maraniss is a Washington Post staff writer who has written other books, including “First in his class: a biography of Bill Clinton,” (1995) and the Pulitzer Prize winning “When pride still mattered: a life of Vince Lombardi” (1999).

Why bother? Much more than a sports biography—insightful profile of a complex man and the insidious racism of major league baseball.