Paterno Legacy

September 1, 2014
Paterno aims to set the record straight regarding the tarnished legacy of his late father, the famed head coach of Penn State, Joe Paterno. Paterno's exploits as the winningest coach in NCAA history have been well documented, but his integrity took a hit (and many of his wins were removed) following the revelation that Jerry Sandusky, a former assistant coach, was a molester of children, a fact that, according to the Freeh report, Paterno (and others) concealed. The Paterno family regard the report as a self-serving rush to justice on the part of the Penn State Board of Trustees, lacking any substantive evidence and drawing baseless conclusions. According to the author, his father acted appropriately and responsibly. Paterno was a molder of men, a principled man who took the job of coaching as a sacred duty. Jay Paterno covers the media storm surrounding Sandusky's arrest and the subsequent firing of coach Paterno as well as his father's illness and death from lung cancer three months later. Also included are stories of the gridiron and lessons learned from the wisdom of the coach.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)