In Marty Glickman: The Life of An American Jewish Sports Legend, Jeffery S. Gurock profiles one of the greatest athletes and broadcasters of all time. For nearly fifty years, Glickman was behind the microphone to relay some of greatest sports moments in New York history. This is after he proved to be a phenomenal athlete himself. But he never got to prove it on the international stage. Why? The U.S. Olympic track coaches refused to let him run in front of Adolf Hitler in 1936. Despite losing his chance at a gold medal, Glickman went on to reach the pinnacle of sportscasting. With his unique vernacular and boundless enthusiasm, fans looked forward to his every broadcast. Glickman was known for his brilliance and professionalism and paved the way for others in sportscasting as well.

Marty Glickman is an enlightening profile of a man committed to excellence. The volume goes into great detail of his college and Olympic years. It chronicles the impact of being shunned because of Glickman’s ethnicity which drove him to make the world a better place for others. The anti-Semitic treatment he received was eye-opening and left wounds from which he never fully recovered but propelled him to greatness. However, the antisemitic theme and an over emphasis on ethnicity threatens to drown out an inspirational tale, and Glickman’s story needs to be told. His feats on the track and behind the microphone deserve it.

I only knew Marty Glickman as a New York sports broadcaster, and with the help from this book, I learned a lot more about him.

It was interesting to see how he got from being an athletic teenager who played high school football and was also on the track and field team to a nationally recognized sports broadcaster. And, in the middle of this, he was on the 1936 US Olympic team in Berlin, Germany but was removed (along with Sam Stoller – both Jewish) at the last minute to participate in the 4 x 100 Meter relay. Was it because he was Jewish and Hitler didn’t want that since they probably would’ve won Gold or was it political? Glickman always claimed political, but later in his life, he said it was because he was Jewish. So, who replaced him and won that event in his place? Well, it was Jesse Owens.

He was a mentor to Marv Albert and Bob Costas, just to name a few of the many aspiring broadcasters that were mentioned.

He is indeed an American Jewish sports legend.