Billie Jean King takes a well-deserved place among the subjects of the venerable Little Golden Books series, with a biography that emphasizes the intertwined threads of her tennis career and her work for inclusion and equality.
The book starts with her childhood, where she had “a strong sense of right and wrong and a love for sports.” From her early years, we see, she wanted to make sure everyone was included and no one was picked on. We also see that although she was a natural athlete, she was “terrible at tennis at first,” but worked hard to improve.
Later, although she became the number one women’s tennis player in the world, she couldn’t make a living at it; “no woman could.” Buoyed by the growing civil rights movement, she knew it was time to push for change. The book looks at the many ways she did so, working for equal playing opportunities, pay, and media coverage, and trying to change how “tennis was mostly accessible to rich white kids.” The book covers her notable successes, like founding the Women’s Tennis Association and beating Bobby Riggs in the famed “Battle of the Sexes” in 1973. In 2009, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work off the court, including for women’s and LGBTQ rights. Although the book doesn’t talk about her queerness or coming out per se, it does note that she and her wife, Ilana Kloss, are part owners of a professional women’s soccer team.
This is a solid and recommended biography that shows the many ways in which King has had an impact on the sport and on the world. Readers seeking to know details of her coming out journey or her relationship with Kloss won’t find them here, but they may be inspired by the small mentions of her queerness to learn more elsewhere, should they wish to do so.
