Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 5/16/2007

5/16/1982:
Kathy Whitworth wins the Lady Michelob Classic in Atlanta by four strokes over Barbara Moxness, establishing two women's golf records. With the 83rd victory of her career, she passes Mickey Wright for the all-time LPGA leadership, and her $22,500 purse pushes her past JoAnne Carner for the top spot on the career money list. Before she's through, Whitworth will win five more tournaments to finish with 88 professional victories, the most by any man or woman in golf history.

Birthdays:
Billy Martin b. 1928
Jack Morris b. 1955
Joan Benoit Samuelson b. 1957
Thurman Thomas b. 1966
Gabriela Sabatini b. 1970

“Riveting...a fierce, elliptical novel that’s both a gripping psychological thriller and highly moving meditation on the emotional consequence of war.”—The New York Times

France. World War I. Five soldiers are taken by Germans and shot. Or are they? The fiancée of one of the soldiers receives a mysterious letter that makes her realize that the truth may not have been so straightforward. She investigates, in a novel whose plot is utterly engrossing and whose writing, breathtaking. A movie starring Audrey Tautou (Amélie) was adapted from the book, but don’t watch it before you experience Japrisot’s original vision.

A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, by Sébastien Japrisot (Picador, 2004)