His mother died when he was a child shortly afterwards, his father, Harry Rantz, fled to Canada, leaving Joe to live with his aunt. Joe’s early life was full of tragedy, which pushed him to become more isolated and individualistic. Joe’s life probably captures the importance of trust, cooperation, and respect more succinctly than that of any of his teammates. In particular, Brown studies the importance of teamwork by documenting the life of one of the nine Olympic team members: Joe Rantz. The Boys in the Boat isn’t just the story of how the 1936 Olympic rowers perfected their technique and power it’s about how the nine teammates (eight oarsmen plus a coxswain) learned to work together, and became lifelong friends in the process. Because oarsmen need to move together so precisely, they must develop a close psychological bond of friendship and respect to succeed. Even a tiny mistake can throw off the delicate rhythm of the team. As the book explains, rowing is one of the most collaborative sports: on an eight-oar rowing team, all eight rowers must move in perfect or near-perfect synchronization. In order to succeed at the Berlin Olympics, the Americans had to learn how to work together to achieve a common goal-a gold medal. In the book, Daniel James Brown examines the 1936 American Olympic rowing team, made up mostly of juniors from the University of Washington.
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