I have never met the man but I like Greg Louganis.   Because Greg is a good friend of one of my most cherished friends, I decided to write to him in order to complain over his taking credit for an “autobiography” that was written by someone else. This is standard stuff in the world of super-celebrities but it bothers the hell out of me.  The book, Breaking the Surface, spent 5 weeks at the #1 position on the NY Times best seller list.

Many of you will remember that, at the peak of his career, Greg was the most publicized athlete in the world, bar none.   Details of his fabulous career as the greatest diver of all time are readily available on Wikipedia.

Even in something as obscure as academic philosophy, it is not easy to be modest when you are Numero Uno.  Think “Kripke.” But academic fame is bush league compared to athletic fame so I did not know what to expect when I wrote to Greg.   I had told him he had no business taking credit for having written a book that was purely “as told to.”  I told him it was incompatible with his image as a brave and modest person.   I went on and on.

Greg wrote back, not only explaining but apologizing.   So far as writer’s credit was concerned, that was insisted upon by his publisher but, as Greg also told me, he was seriously dyslectic and had been so all his life.  He said he was struggling with his problem and hoped to do better in his next book.   Unfortunately, he did not do much better in his next book but he tried, and that is good enough for me.   That book, titled For the Life of Your Dog: A Complete Guide to Having a Dog in Your Life,  (Simon & Schuster) was an Amazon best seller in 1999 and is still available.

It turns out that for Greg, dogs have always mattered more than his magnificence as a multiple Olympic and world champion in his splashless life in a pool.   I am very glad because that is how it should be.   Get the book.