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Tom Murphy's Books |
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Runner in RedA Search for the First Woman to Run a Marathon in America A mystery novel based on a real-life legend
Reclaiming The SkyA Story of Aviation CourageRead More |
 Just Call Me JockA History of the Boston Marathon"I was teaching in Boston schools when I got a call from Jock Semple, the long-time co-director of the Boston Marathon," Tom said. "I had been a runner since high school, so when Jock, well-known as a fiesty character, asked me to write his life story, I jumped at it. "Each afternoon after school I’d go over to Jock’s "clinic," as he called it, a cinderblock cubicle in the old Boston Garden (dubbed "Semple’s Salon de Rubdown" by Boston sports reporters.) I’d listen to Jock tell stories and I absorbed fifty years of Boston Marathon history along with the lineament fumes. "After many months of this, when I felt I had his voice in my head - as well as a passel-full of stories - I began writing. "It wasn’t long before I could see a ‘Father/Son’ relationship emerging between Jock and "Young" John Kelley - Jock help mentor Johnny to his 1957 Boston Marathon victory - and I asked Johnny if he’d join me on the project. "In Jock, I gained a grandfather-figure in my life. With Johnny, I made of one of my best friends ever." To order this book, which tells a fifty-year history of America’s oldest race through the eyes of Jock Semple, the legendary co-director of the Boston Marathon, click below: Read More 
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