Beyond the stereotype: A celebration of Jews in Australian sport

Published: 2 June 2018

Last updated: 4 March 2024

"WHEN PRIME MINISTERS give their annual Rosh Hashanah message to the Jewish community, they always pay tribute to the Jews'contribution to medicine, science, human rights and the arts. But not sport. Never sport," Ashley Browne said. "We wanted to break that stereotype," added Dashiel Lawrence.

Three years ago, Browne and Lawrence dreamt up the idea of book to celebrate the remarkable stories and experiences of Australian Jews in sport.

Last Thursday in Melbourne their dream was realised with the launch of People of the Boot: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Australian Jews in Sport, an edited collection of interviews, which was published by Hybrid with the support of The Jewish Independent and the Pratt Foundation.

MC for the event, ABC broadcaster Francis Leach, told the 100 friends writer and sports figures at the launch that the book was about much more than sport. People of the Boot was as much a social history of Jewish participation in Australian society as it was about sweat and toil in the sporting arena.

Browne, a former editor of the Australian Jewish News and sports journalist for many years with the Age, and Lawrence, an historian with a deep interest in sport as a social force, envisaged their collection through this lens and the book reflects that ambition.

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David Grace, QC, a former President of Athletics Australia, who launched the book, noted the sheer variety of sports and contributions contained in the collection. Writers told the stories of Sir Frank Lowy, who made football a mainstream sport in Australia, CEO of the National Rugby League Todd Greenberg, Olympic kayaker Jessica Fox, cricketers Michael Klinger and Julien Wiener, mountain-climbing mother and daughter team Cheryl and Nikki Bart, AFL stalwart David Smorgon, and many more.

The book also included figures who contributed to administration, science, technology and advocacy, as well athletic prowess and success.

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A highlight of the night was Leach's conversation with boxing twins Henry and Leon Nissen, now nudging 70, but still as bouncy and elusive as ever as they fended off questions about whether they ever swapped for each other in the ring.

People of the Boot: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Australian Jews in Sport, edited by Ashley Browne and Dashiel Lawrence, is published by Hybrid Publishers

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People of the Boot will be launched in Sydney on July 25 at Club Rose Bay

Main photo: From left, Francis Leach, Dashiel Lawrence and Ashley Browne at the launch

All photos: Michel Visontay