In Conversation with Lesley Visser

John Feinstein

Episode Summary

Lesley was with John Feinstein in 1986 for his promotional tour of “Season on the Brink.” It was the Tip Off Classic in Springfield, where 17th-ranked Navy, with David Robinson, was upset by NC State, led by Jim Valvano. She and John went to a bookstore in a mall and waited for people to stop by and maybe buy a book. Sales were slow that day, but the book went on to become iconic, one of the best-selling sports books of all time. His latest book, “Raise a Fist, Take a Knee – Race and the Illusion of Progress in Professional Sports,” is a rigorously researched series of conversations with people who’ve been handicapped by racism. Feinstein, who is white, admits he will never know how to walk a mile in their shoes, but he talked to more than 100 people to help bring all of us into the arena.