The fascinating story of Jim Thorpe. . .

The amazing and tragic story of athletic super nova and Native American Jim Thorpe has been hitting the news as of late because of his family’s desire to have his body removed from the town that, more or less, purchased it for a PR boost, and returned to his native state of Oklahoma.



My knowledge and interest in Jim Thorpe and his fascinating story arose from the fact that a close friend of mine was raised in the lovely little mountain town that purchased his body - Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. I have been there on a few occasions with her and I’ve actually been to the gravesite.

 
I’m interested by the fact that as this news spreads across the digital landscape, more and more bits of information concerning this amazing man’s life come to the surface. I came across a particularly compelling story on cnn.com this morning that I highly recommend because of the last two paragraphs alone.

In those two small paragraphs, Jim Thorpe’s daughter (now deceased) paints a visual with her words that is positively cinematic and steeped in synchronistic, gut wrenching, irony. It seems to me shameful that a meaningful film covering the life of this extraordinary man hasn’t been created. His true-life story is simply volumes more compelling than the majority of reed-thin, puerile, plots that actually do somehow manage to get made into film today.

The story on CNN.com may be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/08/01/greene.jim.thorpe/index.html