Agassi Story Draws International Attention - 網球

from: Tennis Week http://tinyurl.com/bgf3v

07/11/2005

The Agassi Story is a tale told in multiple languages. In a testament
to Andre Agassi's international appeal, publishing rights to The Agassi
Story have been sold to 14 different nations. The Agassi Story, the
autobiography of Mike Agassi, Andre's father, was published in the
United States and Canada last year.

Co-author Dominic Cobello told Tennis Week publishing rights were sold
to China last week. The book was published in Australia and New Zealand
earlier this year and will soon be available in Cambodia, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand.

"The response has been tremendous," Cobello said. "The Agassi story is
a true success story and it appeals to people all over the world. It
shows what a popular and influential figure Andre Agassi is all over
the world."

You may be able to take a brief trip into Andre Agassi's world without
leaving your living room.

Mike Agassi has filmed a 48-minute documentary of The Agassi Story.
Cobello spent time in Las Vegas with Agassi's parents, Mike and Betty,
recording interviews for the project the pair hope to release later
this year.

The documentary takes viewers on a journey to several Agassi landmarks
in Vegas and recounts a "near-death" experience of a 3-year-old Andre
Agassi, Cobello told Tennis Week.

"Nothing has been left out in this documentary. We go to the hospital
where the kids where born, the first house where they grew up, which
was on the same street as (former heavyweight champion) Sonny Liston
and we see Andre's famous work in Vegas with his charter school,"
said Cobello, who is negotiating for an initial television airing
followed by a DVD release. "We also see his fitness center, The Andre
Agassi fitness center and the Sedona restaurant chain. We try to take
the viewers into Andre's world. I hope to interview (Agassi's sister)
Rita in this one and I would love Andre to be in it as well."

As a child, the eight-time Grand Slam champion found a lifetime of
inspiration in his own living room. Both of Agassi's parents set an
example with the work ethic he would emulate as a tennis player. His
father, Mike, who grew up from an impoverished childhood in Tehren
and grew into an Olympic boxer for Iran, arrived in New York at the
age of 22 with $26 in his pocket and a more meager English vocabulary.
He was the type of man whose idea of settling a dispute was pounding
his fist in your face.

Spending $22 on a bus ticket to Chicago, Mike Agassi began his journey
with $4 in his pocket and a wealth of dreams in his head. Six years
after arriving in Chicago, Agassi met and a shy, blue-eyed beauty,
Elizabeth "Betty" Dudley and the couple soon married and moved to
Las Vegas where they raised four children.

Mike Agassi has devoted much of his life to teaching tennis and was
honored for his contributions to tennis and the Las Vegas community
in a tribute last spring. Famed singer Tony Bennett performed in front
of 300 guests in the celebration of Mike Agassi’s career at the
Stirling Club in Las Vegas. Proceeds from the event — as well as
Mike Agassi's earnings from The Agassi Story — benefit the Mike
Agassi and Nate Schulman Jr. Tennis Scholarship Fund.

The book is available on Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble


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