cover image Made in America: His Own Story

Made in America: His Own Story

Peter Ueberroth. William Morrow & Company, $17.95 (401pp) ISBN 978-0-688-05882-1

Named Time magazine's Man of the Year and elected commissioner of baseball, Ueberroth has been much in the spotlight for the past two years. Head of a Los Angeles travel agency, he was tapped to run the 1984 Summer Olympics in his city, and here he writes about the many problems he encountered. First among them were the Russians, seeking retribution for the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics and publicizing stories about anti-Soviet assassins lurking on every corner. Of no help at all, charges Ueberroth, was the U.S. State Department, which frustrated efforts to promote the games on many occasions. The 1984 Olympiad was unique in that it was financed by private industry, and Ueberroth makes it clear that finding backers was difficult. Only those interested in the behind-the-scene story of the L.A. Olympics are likely to read this book. Photos. 200,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo. November 18