Q: How did you first learn of the largely unknown story of the tennis partnership and life-long friendship between Gibson and Buxton?
A: The short answer is that my agent, Andrew Blauner, knew Angela Buxton, and he suggested that I write a book about her. Andrew was also tennis legend Bud Collins' agent. Buxton had approached Collins to donate money on behalf of her friend, Althea Gibson, when Althea was poor, desperate and contemplating suicide I had a feeling that a book about Buxton would sell very few copies. In my research, I learned of the relationship between Buxton and Gibson. By the time I was doing my research, however, Gibson was inaccessible and senile. This turned out to be a blessing since I spoke to everyone alive who knew her. There has always been such an imbalance in how Gibson is portrayed. I wanted to give a sense of who she and Buxton really were.
Q: Can you give us a brief biography of the two women? How and when did what seems like an unlikely partnership of two people from such different backgrounds come to be in the first place?
A: Gibson was an African American from South Carolina and then Harlem; Buxton was a middle class Jew from London who moved to South Africa with her mother and brother to wait out World War II. In Johannesburg, Buxton became friends with girls of other races; she wondered why everyone considered it a scandal for her to bring home a black playmate. When Buxton returned to London, she played tennis at a time when her peers couldn't; it was just after the war and they had few materials or equipment. Even though she didn't have a lot of natural talent, she had more experience than her peers. In 1951, 15-year-old Angela read that Althea Gibson would be competing in the London Grass Championship, a warm-up to Wimbledon. Angela, seven years Althea's junior, wanted to catch a glimpse of Althea. She even managed to get her autograph. The two women didn't make eye contact, but Angela never forgot this moment. Late in 1955, both Angela and Althea were playing in the Indian Championships in New Delhi. The two began hitting together. Their friendship eventually flourished. Each recognized in the other a kindred soul, though not exactly an equal in tennis terms. In 1956, these two outsiders would team up to win the Ladies' Doubles competition of the All-England Championships at Wimbledon. You can't really compare the experiences of a Jew from London and a black, but they had something in common: they both had obstacles to overcome. They were both outsiders. These two were both outsiders at a time when women's tennis was very much a country club sport. The fact that tournaments took place at country clubs was a way of keeping people out-mainly blacks and Jews. Tennis in the 50's was very white and Waspy. [...]
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