Born to win : the authorized biography of Althea Gibson

The life of the late great Althea Gibson, the first African American to break the color line in tournament tennis Cowritten by Frances Clayton Gray, who was Althea Gibson's confidante and is now executor of her estate, this authorized biography sheds new light on America's first African American tennis champion, from her childhood in Harlem and her ten-year reign as champion of the all-Black American Tennis Association to her historic 1950 debut at Wimbledon and her momentous victories of 1957 and 1958, when she swept both Wimbledon and the U.S.

Open. Complete with 40 rare photographs, this biography is essential for anyone interested in Gibson, tennis, or the struggle for civil rights.

Frances Clayton Gray (East Orange, NJ) is the cofounder and Chief Executive Officer of the Althea Gibson Foundation.

Yanick Rice Lamb (Washington, DC) is an award-winning journalist and author who currently teaches journalism at Howard University.