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Five Strides on the Banked Track: The Life and Times of the Roller Derby
((from the dust jacket flaps)) Five Strides on the Banked Track is the incredible chronicle of the most acutely neglected and misunderstood entertainment in America—the Roller Derby. Part sport, past spectacle, part murderous put-on, the Roller Derby attracts an audience of well over twenty million per year in person, and who know how many million through television.
This is the story of the fans' passion and of the flashing, whirling people who create it, the heroes like superstar Joanie Weston and "Bomber Great" Charlie O'Connell, the villains like flamboyant Ann Calvello, who appears with a different hair color every night � including red-white-and-blue polka dots.
This is Roller Derby as it really happens, both on and off the track: the speed and violence and adulation of the arena � the one-night stands and Holiday Inns, Laundromats and greasy spoon diners, the loneliness and boredom of the road. Five Strides on the Banked Track examines the history, personalities, and idiosyncrasies of every facet of the Derby and of all those connected with the Derby: the promoters, the fans, the phantom "Commissioners," the eager trainees, but, most of all, the players, the hard-driving group of men and women who every game night abandon their personal shyness and nonviolence to slam each other around the track in glorious mayhem. And then quietly dismantle their own track and carry it, with their puppy dogs, to New Haven to Chicago or MOline, where they set it up again for the next night.
Frank Deford, the author, is a senior editor of Sports Illustrated. Assigned by the magazine to do an article on the Derby, he soon became fascinated by what he saw, and Five Strides on the Banked Track is the result. Anayltic, perceptive, and offbeat, his book is the definitive work on the sport Variety called "cathartic, dramatically structured, fast-paced, and classic as a John Wayne movie" � the Roller Derby.
This is the story of the fans' passion and of the flashing, whirling people who create it, the heroes like superstar Joanie Weston and "Bomber Great" Charlie O'Connell, the villains like flamboyant Ann Calvello, who appears with a different hair color every night � including red-white-and-blue polka dots.
This is Roller Derby as it really happens, both on and off the track: the speed and violence and adulation of the arena � the one-night stands and Holiday Inns, Laundromats and greasy spoon diners, the loneliness and boredom of the road. Five Strides on the Banked Track examines the history, personalities, and idiosyncrasies of every facet of the Derby and of all those connected with the Derby: the promoters, the fans, the phantom "Commissioners," the eager trainees, but, most of all, the players, the hard-driving group of men and women who every game night abandon their personal shyness and nonviolence to slam each other around the track in glorious mayhem. And then quietly dismantle their own track and carry it, with their puppy dogs, to New Haven to Chicago or MOline, where they set it up again for the next night.
Frank Deford, the author, is a senior editor of Sports Illustrated. Assigned by the magazine to do an article on the Derby, he soon became fascinated by what he saw, and Five Strides on the Banked Track is the result. Anayltic, perceptive, and offbeat, his book is the definitive work on the sport Variety called "cathartic, dramatically structured, fast-paced, and classic as a John Wayne movie" � the Roller Derby.
211 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1971
12 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Frank Deford
53Ìýbooks55ÌýfollowersFrank Deford (born December 16, 1938, in Baltimore, Maryland) is a senior contributing writer for Sports Illustrated, author, and commentator.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
DeFord has been writing for Sports Illustrated since the early 1960s. In addition to his Sports Illustrated duties, he is also a correspondent for HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel and a regular, Wednesday commentator for National Public Radio's Morning Edition.
His 1981 novel, "Everybody's All-American," was named one of Sports Illustrated's Top 25 Sports Books of All Time and was later made into a movie directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Dennis Quaid.
In the early 1990s Deford took a brief break from NPR and other professional activities to serve as editor-in-chief of The National (newspaper), a short-lived, daily U.S. sports newspaper. It debuted January 31, 1990 and folded after eighteen months. The newspaper was published Sundays through Fridays and had a tabloid format.
Deford is also the chairman emeritus of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. He became involved in cystic fibrosis education and advocacy after his daughter, Alexandra ("Alex") was diagnosed with the illness in the early 1970s. After Alex died on January 19, 1980, at the age of eight, Deford chronicled her life in the memoir Alex: The Life of a Child. The book was made into a movie starring Craig T. Nelson and Bonnie Bedelia in 1986. In 1997, it was reissued in an expanded edition, with updated information on the Defords and Alex's friends.
Deford grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and attended the Gilman School in Baltimore. He is a graduate of Princeton University and now resides in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife, Carol. They have two surviving children: Christian (b. 1969) and Scarlet (b. 1980). Their youngest daughter Scarlet was adopted a few months after the loss of Alex.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 16, 2018
I attended one roller derby event in my life; I was probably about ten or eleven when some of my dad's more unsavory (meaning "not regular church-goers") relatives took me along to Hershey Park Arena one night. I don't remember much about it, though I left thoroughly entertained . . . much more so than when my mother's more faithful flock took me to see auto racing at the Silver Spring Speedway. Lesson learned - watching people skate on an oval track whilst punching each other is WAY MORE interesting than watching people drive cars on an oval track.
This is a wonderfully nostalgic look at the derby, from its beginnings in the mid-thirties, to its glory days of the fifties and sixties. We learn the rules of the game, meet, and travel with the players. The book grew from an article that the author wrote for Sports Illustrated in the late sixties.
I snatched this a while back as a Kindle freebie, mainly because I used to enjoy listening to mornings on NPR. For me, it was just an okay read, but for true roller derby fans, this would be a little slice of heaven.
This is a wonderfully nostalgic look at the derby, from its beginnings in the mid-thirties, to its glory days of the fifties and sixties. We learn the rules of the game, meet, and travel with the players. The book grew from an article that the author wrote for Sports Illustrated in the late sixties.
I snatched this a while back as a Kindle freebie, mainly because I used to enjoy listening to mornings on NPR. For me, it was just an okay read, but for true roller derby fans, this would be a little slice of heaven.
March 25, 2021
Frank Deford, a well known sports journalist, in one of his early works, chronicles the life and times of that unique American phenomenon, Roller Derby, in it's most popular era, the 1950s and 1960s. In so doing, he gives insight into the origins of the game and the issues and triumphs associated with marketing such a maverick activity. The author chooses to take it seriously and, despite many humorous anecdotes, provides an enlightening history.
He also gives the reader, especially someone like me who used to watch The Bay Bombers on San Francisco VHF channel KTVU, an enjoyable glimpse into the lives of some of its stars, including Charlie O'Connell, Joan Weston and Ann Calvello. Of the three, only O'Connell is still living. Deford's descriptions are fairly straightforward, not looking at things with rose-colored glasses. His writing style also is sufficiently atmospheric to give the reader an experiential view of the sport and its inner workings.
A good read and pure nostalgia for someone like me.
A current re-reading doesn't change my opinion. Still a fun look at a strange sport.
He also gives the reader, especially someone like me who used to watch The Bay Bombers on San Francisco VHF channel KTVU, an enjoyable glimpse into the lives of some of its stars, including Charlie O'Connell, Joan Weston and Ann Calvello. Of the three, only O'Connell is still living. Deford's descriptions are fairly straightforward, not looking at things with rose-colored glasses. His writing style also is sufficiently atmospheric to give the reader an experiential view of the sport and its inner workings.
A good read and pure nostalgia for someone like me.
A current re-reading doesn't change my opinion. Still a fun look at a strange sport.
October 24, 2024
Deford followed the Bay City Bombers and the All-Stars in the late 1960s and tells the story of the skaters. He also provides an excellent history of roller derby up to that date. Those who remember watching roller derby during this time will enjoy the book.
The book, however, is a creature of its time and suffers from Deford's sexism. He paints the male skaters as the true athletes while the "girl" skaters were mere entertainment. Deford misses entirely the appeal of roller derby - the women. I remember everyone only being interested in the women skaters (at the time women's team sports were otherwise unknown in TV) when I watched as a child. The male skaters just filled the periods between the women's skating periods. Male skaters only became prominent when roller derby transformed into Rollerball :)
The book, however, is a creature of its time and suffers from Deford's sexism. He paints the male skaters as the true athletes while the "girl" skaters were mere entertainment. Deford misses entirely the appeal of roller derby - the women. I remember everyone only being interested in the women skaters (at the time women's team sports were otherwise unknown in TV) when I watched as a child. The male skaters just filled the periods between the women's skating periods. Male skaters only became prominent when roller derby transformed into Rollerball :)
December 4, 2020
Deford was one of the first great longform sportswriters - not a writer on staff at the New Yorker writing about sports, but an SI guy who went on to found The National - and is perhaps a tad bit overrated as a result. He provides some nice character studies here of Joanie Weston, Ann Calvello, and all-everything pivotman Charlie O'Connell, as well as a good breakdown of the sport's quasi-competitive status and the single owner Jerry Seltzer's attempt to nationalize and possibly fully professionalize the enterprise. It's also weirdly aw-shucks and almost "kayfabe," and Deford's ability to explain the mechanics of the sport (admittedly there's not much there) is actually weaker than I expected. His descriptions of O'Connell and Calvello certainly had me thinking they were much more prepossessing than they actually were (O'Connell had a potbelly!). Still, it's a short book, based on memorable longform reporting, and certain to remain the premier study of the original Roller Derby league.
July 22, 2014
Rating:
4 ½ of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
When I found out that a book on the Roller Derby was going to be offered by NetGalley, I was very happy. To find out it was written by Frank Deford, one of the most prominent sports writers and a member of the National Sports Writers Hall of Fame, well, that just made it even better. The book did not disappoint as it was a well written, fascinating look at history and players, both male and female, of the Roller Derby.
Many people over 50 will recall when Roller Derby was a staple on television, several nights a week in some places. It was part sport, part show, but always entertaining. The sport was developed in 1935 by Leo Seltzer, initially as a skating endurance contest. It later included contact thanks to a suggestion by legendary sportswriter Damon Runyan. The sport took off from there, becoming a spectacle that would have troubles during World War II and then take off when television helped beam it into households.
Deford weaves the history of the sport into stories about the lifestyle of Roller Derby skaters. It is a unique lifestyle that can harden people and they seemed to form their own convent. It was common for skaters to become romantically involved and get married while on the road. Some of the stories are inspiring, some are somewhat sad, but all of them paint a picture about what the life of a Roller Derby skater is like.
The only drawback of the book is that there is no update on what became of the skaters Deford portrayed in the book. Since the book has been re-released as an e-book, that information would have been a nice touch to let fans who watched these skaters know what happened to them. Deford’s writing makes the reader really connect with these performers as they are really just regular men and women who were eking out a living on the “banked track� as was commonly stated. One big difference between these athletes and those of today � there is a lot of junk food eaten by the skaters as they are on the road, and nearly every one of them smoked cigarettes. Can you imagine LeBron James or Russell Wilson lighting one up as soon as they hit the locker room?
Overall, this is a very good book for readers who have never had the chance to enjoy Deford’s writing, for readers who remember the spectacle that was the Roller Derby, or for those who just enjoy human interest stories.
I wish to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Did I skim?
No
Pace of the book:
Very good, as the history of Roller Derby is told in a brief but complete manner. The stories and interviews with the players are interesting and humorous as well as a little poignant.
Do I recommend?
Yes, whether the reader is old enough to remember when Roller Derby was a television staple or not. The book is an interesting look at the past with some lessons and observations that are still relevant more than 40 years later.
4 ½ of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
When I found out that a book on the Roller Derby was going to be offered by NetGalley, I was very happy. To find out it was written by Frank Deford, one of the most prominent sports writers and a member of the National Sports Writers Hall of Fame, well, that just made it even better. The book did not disappoint as it was a well written, fascinating look at history and players, both male and female, of the Roller Derby.
Many people over 50 will recall when Roller Derby was a staple on television, several nights a week in some places. It was part sport, part show, but always entertaining. The sport was developed in 1935 by Leo Seltzer, initially as a skating endurance contest. It later included contact thanks to a suggestion by legendary sportswriter Damon Runyan. The sport took off from there, becoming a spectacle that would have troubles during World War II and then take off when television helped beam it into households.
Deford weaves the history of the sport into stories about the lifestyle of Roller Derby skaters. It is a unique lifestyle that can harden people and they seemed to form their own convent. It was common for skaters to become romantically involved and get married while on the road. Some of the stories are inspiring, some are somewhat sad, but all of them paint a picture about what the life of a Roller Derby skater is like.
The only drawback of the book is that there is no update on what became of the skaters Deford portrayed in the book. Since the book has been re-released as an e-book, that information would have been a nice touch to let fans who watched these skaters know what happened to them. Deford’s writing makes the reader really connect with these performers as they are really just regular men and women who were eking out a living on the “banked track� as was commonly stated. One big difference between these athletes and those of today � there is a lot of junk food eaten by the skaters as they are on the road, and nearly every one of them smoked cigarettes. Can you imagine LeBron James or Russell Wilson lighting one up as soon as they hit the locker room?
Overall, this is a very good book for readers who have never had the chance to enjoy Deford’s writing, for readers who remember the spectacle that was the Roller Derby, or for those who just enjoy human interest stories.
I wish to thank NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Did I skim?
No
Pace of the book:
Very good, as the history of Roller Derby is told in a brief but complete manner. The stories and interviews with the players are interesting and humorous as well as a little poignant.
Do I recommend?
Yes, whether the reader is old enough to remember when Roller Derby was a television staple or not. The book is an interesting look at the past with some lessons and observations that are still relevant more than 40 years later.
August 5, 2016
A thorough, enlightening, and entertaining look at the full history of Roller Derby from its inception in 1935 to the apex of its second ascendancy in 1971 (just prior to the fairly complete collapse of the sports-entertainment version of it).
The first published book by esteemed sportswriter Frank Deford, this is a work of journalist excellence. Deford's research, interviews with primary sources, attention to detail, and even-handed treatment of the subject make for an unquestionably authoritative work. Written in exquisite muscular prose rarely seen in journalism any more—evoking the voiceover on a news reel, or a sports announcer's patter—this history is as much a period piece as the old form of roller derby now is; but as engaging as it surely was when first published.
While modern derby is a true sport—at long last fulfilling the dream of its creator Leo Seltzer—the similarities in all facets of the business, acceptance, experience and culture of the sport; between then and now; will strike a poignant cord with the modern reader (as will, it might be added, the differences). An absolute must read for anyone interested or involved in modern roller derby.
The first published book by esteemed sportswriter Frank Deford, this is a work of journalist excellence. Deford's research, interviews with primary sources, attention to detail, and even-handed treatment of the subject make for an unquestionably authoritative work. Written in exquisite muscular prose rarely seen in journalism any more—evoking the voiceover on a news reel, or a sports announcer's patter—this history is as much a period piece as the old form of roller derby now is; but as engaging as it surely was when first published.
While modern derby is a true sport—at long last fulfilling the dream of its creator Leo Seltzer—the similarities in all facets of the business, acceptance, experience and culture of the sport; between then and now; will strike a poignant cord with the modern reader (as will, it might be added, the differences). An absolute must read for anyone interested or involved in modern roller derby.
October 27, 2022
It might just be because of it's age but this book is an incredibly dry read. I was hoping for cool stories about the early days of roller derby and if there are any I didn't get far enough into the book to read them. It was like reading a textbook, and I hated the style. I love playing roller derby and learning more about the history of it and could not force myself to read this and I've tried multiple times. I'm sure its great for preserving the history of derby and other people were able to slog their way through it and enjoy it but it's just not my jam...bah-dum tisss...
This probably should have just stayed as an article and been kept short and sweet instead of being stretched out to a full book.
This probably should have just stayed as an article and been kept short and sweet instead of being stretched out to a full book.
July 19, 2016
Five Strides on the Derby Track: The Life and Times of the Roller Derby by Frank Deford was a fun read! When the Roller Derby was first created it was an instant sensation. Roller Derby greats like Charlie O'Connell and Ann Calvello were beloved or loved to be hated by fans and were fun to read about. The constant traveling, busy scheduled seasons, and the endless practicing or skating was just another day in the life of a skater in the Roller Derby. The similarities and differences between modern roller derby and the classic Roller Derby were not only interesting but unimaginable. For instance, in the classic Roller Derby, the only players that were required to wear helmets were the pivot and the jammer an all other protective gear was optional. In modern roller derby, everyone on skates is required to wear a minimum of a helmet, mouth guard, elbow pads, knee pads, and wrist guards. The story was fun to read but at times was bogged down by too many details but it was still entertaining. Highly recommended to fans of roller derby!
March 19, 2013
This book by sports writer Frank Deford is hard to find - I had to get through inter-library loan in Birmingham - but it's worth searching if you're at all interested in roller derby or just a fan of gonzo American pop culture. He attempts to be a little too "literary" in my opinion and kind of overshoots a bit here and there, but otherwise Five Strides gives readers a behind-the-scenes take on the original incarnation of roller derby toward the end of its hey day.
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