Kennedy son Tim Shriver will write book on the Special Olympics

Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver says his new book will focus on how the athletes involved in the competition have changed his life.

|
Carolyn Kaster/STF/AP
Special Olympics CEO Tim Shriver (r.) attended a reception celebrating the first Eunice Kennedy Shriver Challenge held last year at Vice President Joe Biden's (l.) residence.

Tim Shriver, son of Kennedy daughter Eunice Shriver and R. Sargent Shriver, will be writing a book on his experiences with the Special Olympics.

In order to complete the writing process, Shriver said he will take time off from serving as CEO of the Special Olympics organization, which was founded by his mother. He said he wants the book to focus on how much he has learned from the competition.

“The athletes of this movement – in their heroism, in their perseverance, in their courage, in their vulnerability – there are really important lessons for a time and an age when people are really looking and seeking ways to find more fulfillment, more purpose, more peace … in their lives,” Shriver said in an interview with the Associated Press.

He said he’s received important lessons from the athletes who participate in the Special Olympics.

“Here I am 50-plus years old and I think the athletes of this movement have taught me more about how to live this life than anyone,” Shriver told the Associated Press. “There’s a lot more here than a charity. There’s a lot more than a cause."

There is no planned release date for the book yet, but Shriver said he may return to work by June. J. Brady Lum, the Special Olympics president and chief operating officer, will continue his role within the company with lead director of the Special Olympics International Board of Directors Stephen Carter taking on additional duties.

Shriver’s book will be released by publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

Molly Driscoll is a Monitor contributor.

Join the Monitor's book discussion on Facebook and Twitter.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Kennedy son Tim Shriver will write book on the Special Olympics
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0215/Kennedy-son-Tim-Shriver-will-write-book-on-the-Special-Olympics
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe