Legendary Coach Alonzo S. "Jake" Gaither Authorized Biography Published After 40-Year Delay

ORDER

Agile, Mobile, Hostile: The Biography of Alonzo S. "Jake"Gaither, is the complete untold story of the extraordinary life of Jake Gaither, the legendary coaching icon of Florida A&M University.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- When Roosevelt Wilson first decided to write a biography about Alonzo “Jake” Gaither 40 years ago, it was about setting the record straight.

At the time Gaither, Florida A&M University's legendary football coach and a College Football Hall of Famer, was upset about another book that was published about him in 1977.

Gaither, FAMU's head coach from 1945 to 1969, and Wilson discussed the book at length.

A noted black journalist George E. Curry, one of the first African Americans to work for Sports Illustrated, came to Tallahassee to interview Gaither for the book "and Jake hated it,” Wilson said. “He said it misrepresented everything, that the guy misquoted him, and it literally brought him to tears.

“I said, ‘Well somebody needs to do an accurate account of this thing.’ I kept putting it off. I decided to do it because the other book bothered him so. I just started gathering information.”

If the process got started more than four decades ago, why is the book, titled “Agile, Mobile and Hostile,” just now seeing the light of day?

“I guess you could call it a lost manuscript because I just forgot I had it,” Wilson said with a laugh. “After doing all that work, I just forgot it.”

CONTINUE READING