SKI TO DIE: The Bill Johnson Story
By Jennifer Woodlief
Emmis Books (2005)

Bill Johnson took the world by storm at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, becoming the first American to win the gold medal in men’s downhill skiing. Before his victory, Bill was a true underdog and wasn’t expected to medal at all. But Bill confidently predicted victory, taunting his competition by telling the press that the other skiers were there to ski for the silver medal. Seemingly out of nowhere, Bill Johnson dominated an event that had been routinely won by European skiers. Bill went on to prove that his gold medal victory wasn’t a fluke by dominating the remaining World Cup races in 1984—an unprecedented achievement for an American skier. Bill’s success made him an overnight celebrity. He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated and appeared on a variety of talk shows, including Good Morning America and The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson. But SKI TO DIE isn’t just the story of one man’s Olympic glory. It’s also the story of a man who was unable to parlay that moment of glory into a lasting, championship-caliber career. It’s the story of a man who, in his attempt to recapture that glory, nearly lost his life, and is still putting the fragmented pieces of his life together.

Faced with mounting personal and financial problems, in 2001, at the age of 40, Bill Johnson attempted a comeback in competitive skiing. His goal was to make the 2002 U.S. Olympic team that would compete in Salt Lake City. (Before his comeback, he tattooed the phrase "Ski to Die" on his bicep—his motto and the title of this book.) Just a few short weeks into his comeback, Johnson was in a horrible skiing accident which left him in a coma for three weeks. When he finally woke, the once brash, bold, athlete was unable to walk or talk, and he had forgotten large chunks of his memory—the death of his 13-month-old son, his divorce, and his estrangement from his mother. But Johnson began the slow path to recovery, making it to Salt Lake City, where he jogged into the Olympic stadium as one of the final torchbearers during the opening ceremonies. Johnson continues to make progress, now skiing again and speaking regularly at various brain injury associations throughout the country.

Bill Johnson’s achievement in 1984 is one of the biggest underdog sports stories of the past 50 years, and his name is synonymous with U.S. skiing. His victory at Sarajevo is considered by some to be on par with that of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team’s gold medal victory. Yet, it is the story of Bill Johnson’s life after his gold medal win that is so compelling and dramatic. With the 2006 Winter Olympics scheduled for February 10-26, 2006, Bill Johnson will be in demand again to speak about his victory and his continuing recovery. With that in mind, author Jennifer Woodlief can deliver the completed manuscript within four months of signing a contract.

Working with the complete and exclusive cooperation of Bill Johnson and his family (including his ex-wife), Jennifer Woodlief’s SKI TO DIE will be the first biography on Bill Johnson. A former Sports Illustrated reporter, Woodlief graduated from Stanford University and earned a law degree from the UCLA School of Law. She has published numerous athlete profiles in various magazines, including City Sports, Touchdown Illustrated, The San Francisco Sports Review, and The ABA Entertainment and Sports Lawyer.

This title is available for purchase from Amazon.com through our Online Bookstore. Click here to purchase 

E-Mail us at nepa@nepa.com if you are interested in obtaining the rights for this book. Please let us know which rights you are seeking.

To return to the previous page, click the Back button on your browser.