A Hero All His Life

A poignant tribute to Mickey Mantle, the famed Yankee star who died of cancer last summer at age 64 following a failed liver transplant, this reminiscence presents alternating chapters by his widow and three of his sons; the fourth, 36-year-old Billy, died in 1994. The couple, both from the same small Oklahoma town, were married in 1951 and moved to New York City, a milieu that overwhelmed them. In due course they both developed serious drinking problems. The ballplayer was almost always on the road, either playing baseball or starring on the lecture circuit. He became an open womanizer, in two instances engaging in long-term affairs his wife was aware of. As the Mantle sons grew up, they became their father's drinking partners. All of them developed alcohol and/or drug addictions and were treated at the Betty Ford Clinic. Mickey is quoted here as saying he was a poor husband and father, an assessment readers will consider accurate, but his family expresses only love for him and recalls the qualities that endeared him to them. Photos not seen by PW. $85,000 ad/promo; simultaneous HarperAudio; author tour. (Oct.)