This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2001.
Forty-five years after her death, Mildred "Babe" Didrickson Zaharias is still regarded as perhaps the finest female athlete of all time. At a time when most women were wearing aprons, the Babe wore the uniform of every conceivable sport, as an All-American basketball player, gold medal-winning Olympic track and field athlete, baseball player, and champion golfer. Over 1946 and 1947, she won 17 straight tournaments, a fear unequaled by any man or woman. Zaharias, who braved cancer until it finally claimed her in 1956, was a remarkable and inspirational woman whose commitment to excellence is reflected in this instructional gold book she wrote in 1948 and subsequently signed on the first page, "Best wishes to Florence, ‘Babe' Didrickson Zaharias." The signature in pencil is done with a flourish and rates a solid 8. The 125-page book is 6-1/4" x 9-1/2" with a green jacket depicting Zaharias in different stages of her swing, and is in good condition with just a touch of page yellowing.