“Carry On,” by Cleveland native Lisa Fenn, has been nominated for a NAACP Image Award.Harper Wave
CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland has more than its fair share of inspirational sports stories. There’s the biggest story of all: Akron boy LeBron James comes home, leads his team to its first-ever championship.
And there’s the Jesse Owens story, breaking records, winning medals and standing up to racism – and Hitler.
And then there are the stories of Larry Doby, and Satchel Paige, and even the Ali summit that took place in 1967.
It’s all headline-grabbing stuff. But no less powerful, or inspiring, is a lesser-known Cleveland sports story, that of Leroy Sutton and Dartanyon Crockett. These two Lincoln-West High School wrestlers didn’t let their disabilities, or poverty, or anything else stop then on their quest to rise above — and for Crockett to even become a Paralympic champion.
It’s a story Cleveland-born author Lisa Fenn tells in her lauded debut book, “Carry On: A story of Resilience, Redemption, and an Unlikely Family” (Harper Wave, 256 pp., $25.99). The book, which has received rave reviews and has been optioned for a movie by Nate Parker, is nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literature by a Debut Author. Winners are announced Friday.
Since she released the book in August, it has struck a nerve with readers of all ages, says Fenn.
“What we’ve found to be unique about this story is there is someone for everyone to connect to, so there are a lot of teenagers who are reading it and feeling a lot of things and drawing strength from that.”
Even the two main subjects — who have become like family with Fenn — were inspired by their own stories.
“They cried reading it; they both said they could not put it down and couldn’t wait to see what happened.”
Today, the three often tour the country doing motivational speeches together. Fenn hopes spreading the word about Crockett and Sutton’s stories will prove inspiring — and educational.
“The only way we can know and respect people from different backgrounds is to know the details from their lives,” says Fenn. “Once you get to know someone’s story, it becomes hard to want to distance yourself from them.”
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