My Interview
I got the amazing opportunity to talk with sportswriter Johnette Howard in relation to Billie Jean King. Johnette met her in 1987 and has known her relatively well ever since. She, along with Maryanne Vollers, helped write Billie Jean’s recent memoir “All In,” working very closely with her.
We talked a lot in our interview about Billie’s personality and qualities. One of the things that I took away was this grace and respect that she lived her life with. She never held grudges with her competitors; when she lost, she accepted that and moved on to focus on the next match. Overall, she was very future-set, and never forgot what her goals were. She didn’t just fight and argue for what she wanted though, she fought for what was right.
One main thing emphasized was how down-to-earth of a person Billie Jean was. Even after everything she has been through and accomplished, she has always had so much compassion and empathy for individual people. Her ego was always in check; she never treated people like she was better than them. Everything that she says is always what she truly means and thinks. Johnette really told me how authentic of a person Billie was, and how much of an honour it was to work with her on the book.
