Seeking Kenny: A Wrestler's Journey

by Michael Copperman

Kenny Cox devoted his life to winning ten Oregon championships in collegiate, freestyle, and Greco-Roman and five junior national championships. But when his college career came to a close, Cox realized he wasn’t sure who he was or how to go about living his life. A few years later, he walked from Oregon to Mexico and back, and upon his return, sold his house and flew to Kauai, where he ventured deep into the wilderness and survived seventy days without supplies. Just weeks after reemerging from the wild, he died at the age of thirty-one.

Michael Copperman considers the life and untimely death of Cox, reconstructing memories of his former training partner with the help of Cox’s family, friends, fans, and fellow wrestlers. Seeking Kenny is, in part, an ode to a storied athlete. But it’s also a cautionary tale about the mental and bodily extremes Cox demanded for his achievements. Copperman asks what it means to live past one’s “glory days,” and what roles loss, grief, faith, and memory play when athletes leave pieces of themselves behind.

229 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2026

About the author

Michael Copperman has a B.A. in English from Stanford University, where he graduated summa cum laude and was a Presidential Scholar. He teaches writing to low-income, at-risk students of color at the University of Oregon, where he received his MFA in Fiction. His nonfiction has appeared in The Oxford American, GOOD, Guernica, Creative Nonfiction, The Rumpus, Teachers and Writers, Stanford Magazine, Post Road, Anderbo, Eclectica, Brevity, The Oregonian, The Register-Guard, and The Eugene Weekly, and is forthcoming from New Madrid, GOOD and Copper Nickel. He was the recipient of the 2009 Walter Morey Fellowship from Oregon Literary Arts. His fiction has been published in the Munster Literature Centre’s journal Southword (after being shortlisted for the 2009 Sean O’Faolain Prize), The Arkansas Review, and 34th Parallel, and is forthcoming from Copper Nickel and Unsaid. From 2002-04 he taught fourth grade in the rural black public schools of the Mississippi Delta, and he is currently seeking representation for his novel “Gone,” concerning that experience.

Reviews

[Michael Chin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Writing more creative non-fiction the last couple years has gotten me thinking about how to assemble fragments of a life in some semblance of palatable order while still doing that life justice—most importantly when writing about somebody else.

Seeking Kenny is a masterclass in all this. Yes, it’s a wrestling book, but much more than that, it’s an exploration of a singular human and all the things a life lived oddly might show the reader about all of us. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeking Kenny is a book that, on the surface, is about its author trying to understand his friend and former wrestling colleague's life and untimely demise, but it's about so much more. Gently, in beautiful writing, this book explores what drives anyone to pursue a passion. Is it faith, is it deeper meaning, is it to make up for an absence in the self? It seeks to understand the line between calling and obsession, and shows us a man who tried to make meaning of his own various inheritances. It also brings up questions about the models men have for masculinity. Through the lines, the author also reveals aspects of himself. A beautiful and potent book.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book about a perfectionist wrestler who was a unrivaled champion in his high school years but found himself struggling in the years after. There are shades of Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Krakauer's Into the Wild in this probing and deeply troubling story. The author provides an unusual insight into Kenny Cox's psyche and history because he was a friend and fellow wrestler. Subtitled "A Wrestler's Journey" and it really does feel like a journey–through youth and idealism and how someone can tumble from their brightest days to their darkest moments of confusion and loss.

[Amanda Sawa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully written and moving tribute. Although I did not know Kenny, reading about his journey and his legacy in the many lives he’s uplifted has been a gift. A heart-opening and worthwhile read — highly recommend!

[Paula Penrod · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far so good! Heartbreakingly beautiful. Wonderful writing. Hard to believe what cruelty one would do to their body to achieve a weight class.

[Colleen Alles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is beautiful and heartbreaking.

[Rachel B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply moving, poignant and rendered in gorgeous, intricate detail.