From America's premier sportswriter, the definitive, #1 New York Times bestselling biography of Joe Paterno and the story of America's love affair with football. Joe Posnanski spent the last two years of Joe Paterno's life covering the coach on and off the field, having gained unprecedented access to his personal notes and files. Posnanski was with Paterno and his family when the horrific scandal unfolded that eventually consumed him, and he was there when, less than three months later, the legendary coach died of lung cancer, bringing a tragic end to his epic life. Written with Paterno's full cooperation, this unforgettable biography is the fullest description we will ever have of one of America's most brilliant and charismatic coaches. Born in Brooklyn in 1926, Paterno was a first generation college student who became a star quarterback while attending Brown University. After graduation in 1950, at age twenty-three he was hired as Penn State's assistant coach. Over the course of sixty-two football seasons, Joe Paterno's influence led the Nittany Lions to win 409 games, a Division I record for a coach. He was honored with every distinction the sports industry has to offer, from Sports Illustrated 's Sportsman of the Year Award to the Associated Press College Football Coach Award to the NCAA's Gerald R.

Ford Award. Following in the tradition of David Maraniss's biography of Vince Lombari and Richard Ben Cramer's Joe DiMaggio , Posnanski presents an honest and surprising portrait of one of the most controversial figures in America. Paterno is the definitive account of the epic life of America's winningest college football coach.