There are figures in sports who are larger than the game whom people know so little about. One of the biggest of those names is Chuck Taylor. In fact, almost everyone who has ever laced up a pair of sneakers has worn a pair of Chuck All Stars, Converse’s best-selling shoe. Interestingly, very few people can tell you anything about Chuck Taylor. Many think Chuck Taylor is a fictional character, a person Converse created. Well, not only did Converse not make up the name Chuck Taylor, he was very real. Chuck Taylor was an extraordinary salesman who created an incredible brand. Once the good folks at Converse saw what Taylor could do, they turned the keys over to him and said “go”. Taylor put on basketball clinics around the country that were “must-see” events. Sold out gymnasiums were par for the course. He created an annual yearbook in which he named the best players and best teams in the country. If your name appeared, that was HUGE! It wasn’t some sort of non-sensical promotional tool, it was the real deal. Chuck wrote instructional pieces in the yearbook as well that helped tens-of-thousands of basketball players improve their game. Chuck Taylor rubbed shoulders with greats like Knute Rockne and John Wooden. If you knew Chuck Taylor, if you hosted one of his basketball clinics, your team was virtually guaranteed pairs of Chuck Taylor All Stars. That was a BIG deal! They were the best basketball shoes of their time. Today, while technological advances have surpassed these canvas shoes, they have now become a fashionable statement. More than 100-million pairs of Chuck Taylor All Stars are still sold every year. How did this all come about? Abe Aamidor who worked as a reporter for the Indianapolis Star, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat and other newspapers as well, and who has written several books, took on the task of writing a biography on one of the biggest and, perhaps, least known figures in basketball history – Chuck Taylor. Abe’s book, “Chuck Taylor All Star, The True Story of the Man Behind the Most Famous Athletic Shoe in History,” published by Indiana University Press, is a wonderful account of how Taylor did it all. Abe joins us on this edition of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes for a terrific discussion about Chuck Taylor.
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