Running great Jim Fixx's Tiger racing flats, worn for the cover shoot of his bestselling THE COMPLETE BOOK OF RUNNING, together with an autograph letter signed by Fixx describing the provenance.
Very good plus to near fine.
Price: $2,800.00
"By now, Jim Fixx's legs are almost as famous as Betty Grable's were during World War II." — The WASHINGTON POST (1978)
Arguably no book was a greater influence on the 1970s running boom than THE COMPLETE BOOK OF RUNNING. Fixx's book sold more than one million copies and its instantly recognizable cover was ubiquitously displayed in chain and mall bookstores well into the 1980s. The cover's red-and-white shoes became not just a symbol of running's growing popularity, but of a burgeoning sneaker culture that by the mid 1980s would culminate in the Air Jordan. Donated by Fixx in 1981 to a charity auction, the shoes remain iconic.
Read more: Scannell, "Running Book Sales Zoom To 373,000," The Washington Post, April 15, 1978.
n.p. n.p, [circa 1976-78]. 10.5'' x 4'' each approx. Original red and white Onitsuka Tiger running shoes (not noted, but approximately size nine). Generally very good, worn condition. With an autograph letter signed (ALS) from Fixx on his letterhead, in total: "May 23, 1981. For your Books Behind Bars auction here are the running shoes I wore for the jacket of The Complete Book of Running. I think I ran the 1978 Boston Marathon in them.* Jim Fixx *I liked them so much I patched the heels myself." Folded, near fine. Together with an early printing of the THE COMPLETE BOOK OF RUNNING (provided). Housed in an archival box.
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