Almonte's Brothers of the Wind: R Tait McKenzie and James Naismith

Raymond B. Blake is director of the Centre for Canadian Studies at Mount
Allison University and the author of Canadians at Last: Canada
Integrates Newfoundland as a Province.

Almonte’s Brothers of the Wind is the story of two relatively obscure
Canadians from the town of Almonte, in the Ottawa Valley, who have made
major contributions to North American sport: James Naismith, the
inventor of the game of basketball (who is finally receiving national
recognition), and R. Tait McKenzie, a superb bronze sculptor (who
remains relatively unknown to Canadians).

Naismith and McKenzie were born six years apart in the 1860s and
followed similar paths to McGill University before embarking on careers
in physical education. Both were extraordinary athletes, and—even
though Naismith was interested in the ministry and McKenzie in
medicine—both made their mark as pioneers in the physical education
departments of various American universities.

The most interesting part of Cosentino’s joint biography is the
account of Naismith’s invention of the game of basketball; he
developed the sport as part of an assignment to find a “game which
would be interesting, easy to learn, was not rough and could be played
indoors in the winter under artificial light at a time when the days
were shortest and darkness fell early.” Although the game was received
with skepticism when Naismith introduced it in 1891 at Springfield
College, it has since become one of the most popular sports in North
America.

Cosentino is to be commended for chronicling the lives of these two
Canadians who helped to transform the world of sport.