A Daredevil and Two Boards
by George Ziemar
Published by Hunter Halverson Press
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Reviewed by Connie Anderson
Ralph Samuelson, the young Lake City, Minnesota man who invented water skiing, was a daredevil who loved challenges.
After months of trial and error, on July 2, 1922 "Sammy did it," as previously doubting people cheered from the shoreline.
After his first successful attempt on 8-foot homemade skis, held on by leather straps, Ralph developed his own water show, doing tricks for townspeople. Then he took the show on the road to Florida and Michigan and throughout Minnesota in the 1920s and early 1930s.
Although the book indicates that it is all about water skiing--that was only the early and small part of his life.
After he injured his back, he had to quit skiing and start the next phase of his life. He married and became an innovative and successful turkey farmer--successful that is, until disease killed off most of his flock and left him in debt.
After many failures caused by diseases in animals and poultry, Ralph always trusted in his God. Later in life, the man who lived openly with his personal God often took the opportunity to witness, even after he had to file bankruptcy in 1952. He described bankruptcy to be "as close to disgrace as disgrace goes."
In the 1960s, he was finally recognized as the Father of Waterskiing, thanks to the curiosity of a St. Paul Pioneer Press reporter and hard work and support of some Lake City business people.
Ralph Samuelson was a man who had often in his 77 years come to the end of his rope, but always he tied a knot and hung on. On his tombstone, per his request, it simply says, "Ralph Samuelson, Father of Waterskiing, Witness for Christ."
This young daredevil had many mountains to climb but always got up when life knocked him down.
Armchair Interviews says: This book would be most enjoyed by people from Minnesota because of the many names and places, but also by those who like waterskiing--or those who like to read about people who accept and exceed challenges while witnessing for their God.