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By Joel Drucker
[vc_empty_space height="15px"]The assignment called for a review of All In, the legendary Billie Jean King’s autobiography (written with Johnette Howard and Maryanne Vollers). But given the quality of the times I’d spent with her, I knew that maintaining journalistic distance from this epic work was impossible. Of course, hundreds of people—probably thousands—had interacted with King personally in ways different from the public persona of net rusher, crusader, icon. Over the past 30 years, I’ve spoken with many, not just King’s fellow world-class players, but volunteers from USTA sections, fans, recreational players, racquet stringers, drivers, ball persons, airline passengers, camera operators, TV producers, makeup artists, even a colleague who’d once briefly rented her Hawaii home.