Rapid Ray
The Story Ray Lewis
Rapid Ray Lewis was arguably the fastest man of his generation. He won medals in the 1932 Olympics and the 1934 British Empire Games, and countless races in North America. Remarkable achievements for any man – but all the more remarkable because Lewis had to race poverty and prejudice. The geat-grandson of slaves, he worked as a porter on the railway, and trained by running alongside the tracks when the train was stopped on the prairies.
Rapid Ray is far more than a sports autobiography; it is as much a history of one man’s battle for equality as it is a history of Olympic-level track. Throughout his long life – he is now in his nineties – Ray Lewis has fought…
John Cooper has been a writer all his life. In addition to writing books, he is a corporate communications specialist. His interest in African-Canadian history was sparked as a twelve-year-old, when he read Black Like Me. John co-wrote and edited My Name’s Not George and wrote Shadow Running, a book for adults about Ray Lewis. In 2002, he wrote his first book for young adults, Rapid Ray: The Story of Ray Lewis. John Cooper lives in Whitby, Ontario with his wife and three children.