Chasing a Dream and Working Together
It’s a mystery how a story idea can come out of nowhere and wrap itself around a writer’s heart. That’s what happened to me in ~2015 when, while working on a different project, I learned about Billy Mills for the first time. His story wouldn’t let go of me, so I had to follow it straight to the Olympian himself. Nine years later, OUR book, Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2024), illustrated by S.D. Nelson, has finally published. I can’t help but reflect on the parallels between Billy’s long-distance sport and my job as an author. And how much we can grow when people from different cultures and experiences work together.
In case you’ve never heard of Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota), he was raised on the impoverished Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where he was orphaned by the age of twelve. While on his college track team, grief, systemic racism, and chronic health challenges became so severe, Billy almost gave up on life, until he remembered what his late father told him after his mother died: “You have broken wings, son. You have to dig deeper, way below the anger, the hurt, the self-pity. The pursuit of a dream will heal you. Do this and you could have wings of an eagle.”
In a moment of crisis, Billy opened his journal and wrote down a lofty dream — to earn a gold medal in the Olympic 10,000-meter event. He trained around the many obstacles in his path, and when his energy faded during long races, he called on his reserves and his ancestors to keep him going. He didn’t qualify for the 1960 Olympics, but Billy didn’t give up. The journey was more important than the finish line. He persisted with a belief in himself until he reached his goal in 1964 by shattering the Olympic record at the Games in Tokyo. As of today, Billy Mills is still the only American to ever win gold in that event. And he remains only the second Native American in history to win gold in any track and field event. He succeeded against all odds.
When I set out to write a picture book about Billy, I wasn’t new to the challenges. Each of my previous books had its own zig-zaggy trajectory, with complex research, publisher rejections, countless revisions and rewrites. From idea to publication, each book had taken between 7-10 years. Yikes! By the way, this detail is a showstopper for students during my school visits, until I point out that the timeline includes a whole lot of waiting and delays.
I launched into Billy Mills research with zeal, winnowing his story into a tight focus. At the end of 2015, I wrote a good first draft that gave way to revisions. But I wouldn’t pursue publication of the story without Billy’s approval and an interview. Sure, I could have charged ahead without him because he’s a public figure, but it would not have been right. Native American stories have been appropriated for too long. I wasn’t about to do the same!
For the next 4 ½ years, I relentlessly tried to reach Billy by email, phone, social media, carrier pigeon. Because of his global travel schedule as a speaker, it didn’t look like I would ever get the much-needed interview. During those silent years, while I continued to research and finesse my manuscript, I almost gave up. Thank goodness, I didn’t! I stayed on my own track and kept inching forward. I persisted!
Finally, in January 2020, I sat in Billy’s living room, pen and recorder in hand, and I listened. Billy shared personal details from his life, his athletic career, his culture. He had concerns and hopes for Native people still struggling with generational poverty and trauma. I listened. We talked about the complicated and heartbreaking injustices that Indigenous peoples have endured over centuries—Billy’s ancestors among them. I listened. And I watched as his eyes lit up when he talked about the Native changemakers today who make a difference in their communities. I absorbed these stories, so unlike my own, and my empathy and understanding grew.
By the end of that day, a collaboration was born. Billy and I would work together on the book that I proposed. As close adviser, he would ensure that the autobiographical tale was steeped in authenticity, truth, and heart. Our cultural differences became an asset, as we merged our perspectives and strengths and modeled Billy’s overarching message about unity through diversity. Along with his wife, Pat, we became more than a team. This first conversation opened the door to many telephone and Zoom calls. One year later, we signed a contract with Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. Revisions continued much of 2023.
On July 2, 2024, all these years after my 2015 first draft, we crossed the finish line together with Wings of an Eagle: The Gold Medal Dreams of Billy Mills. In August, Billy took the book to the Paris Olympics, where he celebrated the 60th anniversary of his own gold medal win. He also donated his Olympic jersey and a copy of Wings to the Museum of World Athletics.
If not for this book, it’s unlikely that Billy and I would have ever crossed paths. Yet it is because of our different backgrounds and experiences that we created something so beautiful and meaningful, with the help of Lakota illustrator S.D. Nelson. How remarkable! It’s probably not a coincidence that the strongest theme in Wings of an Eagle is that we are stronger together. This book certainly proves that.
Listen to a Meet-the-Author Recording for Wings of an Eagle
Listen to Donna Janell Bowman talk about her name
Discover teaching tips to help feature Wings of an Eagle for your students
Explore Donna Janell Bowmans’s author page on TeachingBooks
Text and images are courtesy of Donna Janell Bowman and may not be used without express written consent.
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