USA Gymnastics Technique Magazine

Book Review

Women's Gymnastics A History: Volume I

1966-1974, by Minot Simons II

This beautifully illustrated book is a celebration of the rich heritage of women's gymnastics during the period 1966 to 1974, when the older gymnasts of former times gave way to a younger generation which brought with them a new approach to the sport.

First in a series of four volumes which will describe the history of women's gymnastics through 1996, Volume I contains 82 color and 95 black and white photographs, a total of 177 pictures!

In its 432 pages, Volume I covers the Mexico and Munich Olympics, the World and European Championships of the period and competitions such as the 1973 University Games.

USA Gymnastics asked author Minot Simons II to comment on his motivation for writing and describe the scope and contents of the four volume series.

Simon's Comments

I started writing this book because I did not think the story of women's gymnastics was being told as I thought it should be. If today's splendid gymnastics periodicals had been doing as well 20 years ago as they are now, I might never have started. Still, there's one thing they all suffer from--lack of space. There's never room for an in-depth story. They are so involved with their regular features that they have no room for the kind of detail I went into in Volume I. It was wonderful to be able to write as much as I thought the story needed. After completing the 432 pages of Volume I, I was finally satisfied. Even so, my wonderful designer, Valerie Taylor, would sometimes say, "No Minot, you just can't write another word!"

Except Munich, the stories in Volume I had never been written before. Glenn Sundby in his early days had neither the money nor the writers to do the job on the 1968 Olympics. He did well in the 1972 Olympics with Dick Criley's detailed coverage, but could only give partial coverage to the 1970 World Championships in Ljubljana and had to miss the 1974 World Championships in Varna. Even though I attended the 1974 Championships, I did not know enough about gymnastics then to cover it properly. It took me several years observing workouts through the kindness of the Kips, the Scats, and Verdugo to learn the rudiments of the sport; then the hours spent in front of the TV transcribing routines honed my ability still further. Even so, I needed the help and corrections of my friend, Joanne Pasquale, well-known brevet judge, to offer a verifiable story. Munich hooked me on women's gymnastics. Within three weeks of watching Olga and Ludmilla on television, I was enrolled in Russian at UCLA Extension. I have studied Russian at varying intensities of application since then. The main benefit of the study has been the ability to read and translate articles in Soviet publications. Without being able to do this, the biographies of Soviet gymnasts, for example, would not have been possible.

The biographies were one of my main interests, I wanted to pierce the veil of Soviet secrecy and learn about the person behind the gymnast. Fortunately, in the 20 years since Munich, much was written in Soviet and now Russian periodicals, some of it by the gymnasts. In addition, I have found willing collaborators among Russian writers.

The lives of gymnasts became more interesting with the passage of time. Cathy Rigby McCoy and Karin Janz, are more interesting now than they were in 1972. Vera Caslavska's life since Mexico is a fascination in itself. It was also moving to read about the unhappy post-gymnastics lives of Zinaida Voronina and Tamara Lazakovich.

In writing Women's Gymnastics: A History, I wanted the stories to be in such detail that people could turn to the various volumes, read the narratives and the routines, and find out who was there, what they did and how well they did it. I followed this pattern for all the major competitions. While people were reading about the competitions, they could view the pictures and the diagrams. Then they could read the biographies of the stars. In short, I wanted to make it a book of record.

One other objective is that the books should always be available, so that future gymnasts will be able to learn about their heritage. As Kathy Johnson observed in her endorsement of the book, "My belief is that to fully appreciate where we are: it is important to know whence we came."

Volume II will continue to fill the gaps in what has been reported so far. One such gap is the 1980 Moscow Olympics, which no one covered. I obtained a tape of the finals from Moscow TV and analyzed the routines as I have others. I translated the stories from the newspaper Sovietsky Sport. I have already interviewed Bela Karolyi and Nelli Kim and will interview other gymnasts who where there. In addition, I will pay appropriate attention to those American gymnasts who were unable to compete in the 1980 Olympics.

Volume II will provide biographies of Nadia Comaneci and Nelli Kim, taking each of their stories from their earliest beginnings up to the present. Many articles have been written about both of them, but Volume II will treat them in one condensed, coherent form, taking into consideration both their achievements and their personal lives.

Additionally, Volume II will offer an opportunity to write about Marcia Frederick, our first world championship gold medalist, and about Rhonda Schwandt, who won the vault gold medal in the Moscow News competition in the same year. Ensuring that such great gymnasts will not be forgotten is one of the rewarding aspects of this work.

In the same vein, Volume III will contain not only the story of the 1984 Olympics, but also that of the competition in Olomouc, Czechoslovakia, involving those countries that did not participate in the Los Angeles Olympics. Just as our gymnasts missed their chance for Olympic gold in 1980, so did Olga Mostepanova, Maxi Gnauck, and others from the socialist bloc countries in 1984. At least they should be honored in print.

I began my research in 1986, intending the work to be a single book. As it progressed, I realized it would be too big for one volume. Consequently, I divided it into four. The first volume would cover the period 1966 to 1974; the second, 1975 to 1980; the third, 1981 to 1988; and the fourth, 1989 to 1996. Since this decision was made only recently, much of the material for the subsequent volumes has already been written. Meanwhile, I contacted all the well-known publishers, but they turned it down as being either not in their field of interest or as part of a market they considered too small. I believed in the possibilities of the book, however, and resolved to publish it myself. One advantage of self-publishing is that of retaining control of the book. I could select the pictures, including the cover pictures, determine in what detail the text would be written, choose the paper it would be printed on, decide whether the cover would be hard or soft and, in general, what the book will look like. A publisher would have made all these decisions. The result is a book that is exactly as I wanted it.

So far, it has been well received.

--Minot Simons II, January 16, 1996

ORDER INFORMATION

You may order copies of the book by supplying the following: name, address, phone number, and check, or chargecard information. If you choose to charge, please provide account number, date of expiration, name on the account, type of card, and a signature. Please make check or money order payable to

Welwyn Publishing Company
P.O. Box 222475
Carmel, CA 93922-2475
e-mail: welwyn@aol.com
The FAX number is: (408) 624-5294 -- An order can also be placed as a FAX, and charged to your VISA or MASTERCARD.

The price of the book is $35. California residents add $2.19 sales tax. Shipping and handling:

US, including Alaska and Hawaii: Book rate--$4.25; First Class (air mail)--$6.50. Canada Book rate--$6.25; Air mail--$9.50. All other international: Book rate--$6.50. For international air mail, FedEx or other express service, please contact Welwyn Publishing Company.

Now there is a way for you to see the book on the Internet! The web site is: http://www.welwyngymbook.com

On the Internet, you can see whole pages, photographs, and diagrams. There you can preview some of the photos and narratives from major competitions of the period. You will see a biography page and two of the diagrams taken from the Code of Points.


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