Prospectus Q&A, Part II

Nov 23, 2010

In Part II, Jane Leavy, the author of The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, talks about Mantle’s relationship with Joe DiMaggio, the mechanics of his swing from both sides of the plate, the cultural meaning of “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke,”—including the question “What if Mantle were black and Mays white?”—and more.

Athletes’ cellphone self-portraits an unevolved idea that might have changed Mickey Mantle’s life

Nov 21, 2010

Jane’s commentary in the Los Angeles Times: “Imagine if Mickey Mantle, then in the early stages of destroying himself, had been exposed not by a faux Photoshopped clone but by irrefutable images of his self-destructive behavior. It might or might not have changed him. But, surely it would have changed the way we looked at him, what we laughed at and laughed off. It might even have saved his life.”