Black coach

I have no idea whether the movie, "Remember the Titans" was an accurate portrayal of the events depicted in it. Knowing what Hollywood likes to do to such stories, I have my doubts. However, if you want a real, unvarnished account of an African-American coach leading a southern high school football team through its first year of integration, this is the book for you.Black Coach is a contemporaneous account of one such coach, Jerome Evans, and his efforts to build a unified team -- and by extension, a unified community -- at the newly integrated Walter Williams High School in Burlington, NC. The book, written in the early 70s, uses the language, images and points of view unique to that time period. This might make it dated in some ways, but also makes it a more reliable primary source. The author is better known for writing, "A False Spring," which recounted his struggles as a minor league baseball player. This book has little in common with "False Spring" except for Jordan's densely-packed writing style -- you get more out his 200 pages than most writers' 300 -- and clear perceptions. By that I mean that he is able to take a complex subject and eliminate the peripheral, confusing elements and express the remainder in a manner that makes it appear completely natural. This is the work of a skilled reporter who, even at the beginning of his career, has the rare ability to induce his subjects to reveal their most closely-held feelings.