Seize the Day: My Autobiography Book

Seize theDay tells the story of how the girl from Glossop Terrace in Cardiff became Britain's best-known paralympic athlete, BBC Sports Personality of the Year and OBE. In a cynical world Tanni Grey-Thompson is no less than an old fashioned hero. Born with spina bifida, she's gone on to win 14 paralympic medals and a whole slew of international sporting awards. In a straightforward format we follow Tanni Grey-Thompson's life from the first realisation that she was disabled through her school years to her 13-year career competing at professional level. Throughout her childhood she was supported by a loving family that gave her a unique mixture of true grit, sensitivity and feisty confidence. Her strong character enabled her to overcome painful surgery and prejudice against disabled people to catch the vision of becoming a world-class athlete. Her sporting accomplishments are truly heroic, but underneath the triumphant athlete we glimpse a down-to-earth person with a plucky sense of humour and real humility. Her life shows how much disabled people can accomplish; it also reproves the able-bodied for our prejudice, laziness and lack of accomplishment. The writing style is very direct and conversational--at times this chatty cheerfulness may grate a little for certain readers. Sometimes the memoir descends into trivial reminiscence, but then suddenly the hero is facing another challenge and we join her again on a heroic quest that is absorbing, affirming and inspiring. -- Dwight LongeneckerRead More