Tom Benjey

Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs: Jim Thorpe & Pop Warner's Carlisle Indian School Football Immortals Tackle Socialites, Bootleggers, Students, Moguls, Tom Benjey

In Doctors, Lawyers, Indian Chiefs, Tom Benjey expanded the scope of his previous work, Keep A-Goin': The Life of Lone Star Dietz, to explore the lives of not just one of the Carlisle Indian School football immortals but the core group of men -- more than 50 all told -- who helped create the sport, both amateur and professional, we enjoy today. The issue for the Carlisle students of the competing visions of mainstreaming versus cultural retention for Native Americans in this country is one that Dr. Benjey explores in detail, the validities of which are still debated a century later. During the past three decades, a plethora of books have been written about the Carlisle team. In my opinion, none of them can match the exhaustive research, attention to detail and, most importantly, the accuracy of Dr. Benjey's book. The most sophisticated and learned historians, sociologists and anthropologists, rabid sports fans or casual readers will be enthralled by his compelling style and thrilled by the many factual treasures he has uncovered. Robert W. Wheeler, author of Jim Thorpe: World's Greatest Athlete