Why Bobby Jones Quit: A Literary Portrait

by Bob Thomas

At the dawn of the jazz age and the golden age of sport, one man was ready to burst upon the golf scene as no one had done before or Bobby Jones. It was a time of different golf rules, the growth of golf as a major sport, ancient equipment, unruly fans and great amateur and professional players, but Bobby Jones overcame them all. For the next ten years, Jones ruled, setting records that others would feign to touch and emulate. You’ll learn things you never knew about Bobby Jones in this book. Jones had the first traveling public relations agent in Oscar Bane Keeler and he had the first traveling teacher, Stewart Maiden. Harvey Penick, the author of golf’s beloved "Little Red Book," called Maiden the best golf instructor of all time. Many people think of a sport only in present-day terms. But you cannot understand a sports figure unless you also understand his time and place. Then, you’ll truly know what he had to go through to do what he did. This book effectively transports you back to Bobby Jones’ day. Written in the nonfiction novel format created for his best-selling "Ben Hogan’s Secret" and the golf classic "Golf Gave Me Something to Love," author Bob Thomas blends the actual words and themes used by Jones, Keeler, Maiden and Jones’ father, Big Bob, to bring the grand story of Bobby Jones to life in riveting scenes. You’ll feel as though you’re there as Jones winds his way through golf and history to become the great hero of the South, the USGA and the United States and golf in general. This is the book that should have been made into the movie about Bobby Jones.

312 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2012

About the author

Robert Joseph "Bob" Thomas was an American Hollywood film industry biographer and reporter who worked for the Associated Press from 1944.

Born in San Diego, he grew up in Los Angeles, where his father was a film publicist. He attended UCLA. He lived in Encino with his wife, Patricia. They have three daughters. Thomas, aged 92, died on March 14, 2014 at his home.

Thomas made his mark by engaging celebrities in activities that brought out their personalities, whether by measuring their waistline after childbirth (as he did with Betty Grable) or testing just how tall a leading lady needed to be by kissing her himself (as he did with June Haver). Acclaimed as the dean of Hollywood reporters, Bob Thomas wrote about the movie business for the Associated Press since the days when Hollywood was run by the men who founded it: Jack Warner, Darryl F. Zanuck, Harry Cohn and Louis B. Mayer.

During his long history of reporting for the AP, Thomas authored at least 30 books. Many in the film industry credit his 1969 biography of producer Irving G. Thalberg as sparking their interest in pursuing a career behind the scenes. Other Thomas biographies include Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando, David O. Selznick, Walter Winchell, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Howard Hughes, Abbott & Costello, Walt Disney, and a children's book, Walt Disney: Magician of the Movies. - Wikipedia