{"product_id":"bricklayer-bill-the-untold-story-of-the-workingmans-boston-marathon","title":"Bricklayer Bill","description":"Two weeks after the United States officially entered World War I, Irish American \"\"Bricklayer Bill\"\" Kennedy won the Boston Marathon wearing his stars-and-stripes bandana, rallying the crowd of patriotic spectators. Kennedy became an American hero and, with outrageous stories of his riding the rails and sleeping on pool tables, a racing legend whose name has since appeared in almost every book written on the Boston Marathon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen journalist Patrick Kennedy and historian Lawrence Kennedy unearthed their uncle's unpublished memoir, they discovered a colorful character who lived a tumultuous life, beyond his multiple marathons. The bricklayer survived typhoid fever, a five-story fall, auto and train accidents, World War action, Depression-era bankruptcy, decades of back-breaking work, and his own tendency to tipple. In many ways, Bill typified the colorful, newly emerging culture and working-class ethic of competitive long-distance running before it became a professionalized sport. \u003cem\u003eBricklayer Bill\u003c\/em\u003e takes us back to another time, when bricklayers, plumbers, and printers could take the stage as star athletes.","brand":"University of Massachusetts Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":32118973530195,"sku":"","price":26.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781625343062_a6a510b1-e32b-475c-a14a-afeee277558b.jpg?v=1777177833","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/bricklayer-bill-the-untold-story-of-the-workingmans-boston-marathon","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}