Stealing Home: Intimate Family Portrait by the Daughter of Jackie Robinson, an

As the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson's breaking of the baseball color line nears, he seems more of a heroic figure than ever, and this loving biography will add to his stature. His daughter shows that he was as admirable off the field as on, dedicated to his wife and determined to give as much time as possible to his three children, even as his importance as a public figure grew and he became more involved in various business enterprises. His older son and namesake fought in Vietnam, developed and then overcame a drug habit and died in an auto crash at 24. His other son, David, now lives in Tanzania, where he owns a coffee farm. The author, a nurse-midwife, contracted two bad marriages, one to a man who was abusive even during their engagement, the other to a man who needed someone to lean on. But the greatest strength of Robinson's sensitive memoir is its look at the problem of being the child of a famous, revered father and of having to realize that such a parent, even one mindful of the emotional needs of his children, must always be shared with the public. Photos not seen by PW. $50,000 ad/promo; author tour. (June)