Finding Renée Richards with Julie Kliegman
In 1976, a transgender tennis player named Renée Richards won a landmark New York Supreme Court case and a victory for trans rights in professional sports. In 2026, YWA sports correspondent Julie Kliegman is publishing a biography of her. In honor of their new book, Finding Renée Richards: The Groundbreaking Story of Tennis’s Trans Pioneer, Julie returns to the Renée Richards beat to tell Sarah about the long process of creating this expansive work. In addition to the sometimes complicated conversations Julie had with Renee, they share with Sarah the process of writing a biography, from the first lunch with a subject, to the pitch, to the long days searching the archives, and finally, to its publication and reception. They discuss how to write “Not A Tennis Book,” how to deal with your subject's feelings about their own biography, and what to do with the pressure of writing about an individual who will inevitably be interpreted as a voice for an entire group of people. Digressions include cave anxiety, Type 2 Fun, and Legally Blonde.
More Julie Kliegman:
https://juliekliegman.com/
Use code YWAPOD15 for 15% off Julie's new book Finding Renée Richards on Bookshop.org
For signed copies: https://www.astoriabookshop.com/item/1sM1NJwkMQf6v7NQU-bIXA
Edited + produced by Miranda Zickler
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Comments (15)
I went to their book talk in Astoria thanks to this podcast episode. It was amazingly entertaining and interesting
just found out she was my eye doctor when i was a kid!! my dad said “she’s the best in the business for strabismus (hey, that rhymes!)”
After listening to the episode I filled out a form asking my library to buy a copy of this book, and just received notice that they did so! I feel like a curatory wizard ^_^
I went to a conference once where there was a scheduled open discussion for people who had been transitioning for 5+ years. There was a physician in her 60s who talked about how she didn’t understand the idea of a “dead” name, because she had had an entire professional career under her birth, masculine name and didn’t feel a rejection or death of that person. It was very compelling to me at the time as I was only about 5 years into my transition. I think Julie becoming flustered with Renee’s request to be named and pronouned according to who she was at the time is just a reflection of “woke journalists” and all the rest of us not engaging with enough older trans people, or in this case, maybe trans people in general. Because Renee is not unique in this, and it shouldn’t have caused the hiccups and hang ups that it did.
You can't hang your hat on salad. ☹️
love this so much! so considered and wonderful, exactly why i subscribe ❤️
Thank you for your work, Julie! Knowing about our trans and queer elders is so important, even if things about them confuse or engage us.
I walked past someone today while crossing the street (opposite direction as me) and she was wearing a shirt that said Aww Sweetie over your logo. I realized too late to say something to her, but it was cool to see YWA in the wild
Thank you for this thoughtful conversation. I love learning more about gender in the sports world from Julie!
I found it very interesting that Julie had difficulty with the fact the Renee wanted to be called by her male name in the book for the period of time before she considered her transition to be complete.
Excellent interview.
Wait, I need to hear more about these two books that Sarah has written?
I was lucky enough to review this book for Booklist and I really appreciated the grace Julie gave to Renee while also pushing her to explain her changing views. I highly recommend it!
Wait. Are tennis balls *not* hollow?? I assume they have air inside, but I don’t *think* that the inside of something being an actual vacuum is necessary. My mind is melting down, can someone explain this question to me? 😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫💙
Yeah they have air inside. Most of the balls people would typically play with are pressurized, which is why they kind of go soft over time while you're playing with them. There are also ones that have thicker rubber walls and don't depend on holding pressure, so they last longer.