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Sue Barker's autobiography netted by Ebury Spotlight
Ebury Spotlight has netted Sue Barker’s autobiography Calling the Shots for publication in September, backed by a 10-date nationwide theatre tour.
Senior editorial director Lorna Russell acquired world all language rights from David Luxton at David Luxton Associates. The book is out on 29th September and Barker’s tour will be run with Penguin Live by arrangement with M&C Saatchi Merlin.
News of the deal comes shortly after Barker announced this will be her 30th and final year of hosting Wimbledon before retiring from the BBC. Ebury said the book would see the tennis and broadcasting legend tell her own story for the first time in an “inspiring and personal” memoir.
The publisher said: “In 1971, Sue Barker’s tennis coach sent his 15-year-old protégé to a junior championship in France with a one-way ticket, telling her she’d need to win prize money to pay her fare home. Five years later, Sue is Britain’s No 1. The same combination of grit, grace and talent took her to the top of live sports TV. And now, after four decades on camera encouraging other legends to share their stories, she is telling her own.
“Going all in for her once-only autobiography, Sue takes us inside the showbiz world of 1970s and early 1980s tennis. She reveals the battles she fought for hard-won success in two careers, gives us a front row seat on the nation’s biggest sporting dramas, and a fascinating insider’s understanding of competitors under pressure. This is the remarkable life story of a tennis champion, an award-winning broadcaster who has brought sporting history into our living rooms for decades, and a trail- blazing woman who has always called the shots.”
Russell commented: “The legend that is Sue Barker first made her name as a tennis star in a very different era, when she, like all players, travelled to international tournaments alone, where her rivals were her only companions. And that was just her starting out. She then took on live sports TV. But as everybody will see in this remarkable memoir, the intense pressure that came with both her chosen careers only made her stronger. She hits back, time and again, with that warmth and humour we all know so well bouncing off every page. With his book, she’s let us into her world for the first time, and it’s a truly captivating place to be.”
More details of Barker’s tour are available on the Penguin website.
