19 June 2015
We are so delighted to announce that Proud - the autobiography of rugby legend Gareth Thomas - has been voted by the British public as the 2015 Sports Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards. Written with journalist and sportswriter, Michael Calvin, who also won last year’s overall prize for his book, The Nowhere Men, Proud is a story that transcends the world of sport to tell a universal truth about feeling like an outsider, and facing up to who you really are. Gareth Thomas said of his win;
'I’m proud, in so many ways, to win this award. The book means so much to me because I have discovered that it means so much to others.”He went onto dedicate the award to the memory of sportsman, Danny Jones, who died suddenly last month. Thomas described him as ‘a fabulous friend and a wonderful rugby league player. ‘ Michael Calvin said;
“Being named as Sports Book of the Year at the Cross British Sports Book Awards is a huge honour for us. It is uniquely important since it involves recognition from not just an eminent panel of judges, but also the support of our readers. From a personal point of view, winning for the second successive year is pretty humbling. But Gareth deserves greater credit for having the moral courage to tell his story with such fearlessness and emotional intelligence. We laughed and we cried in writing the book, and will probably do the same when we meet up to celebrate this win. Thanks to everyone involved.”