At the cutting edge of sport

where winners go one way and losers the other, Ian Wooldridge made his living as a journalist. His shrewd eye went straight to the heart of sport's pressure situations, unerringly detecting courage in the competitors, and raising the spirits of his readers with his celebration of genuine heroism. His style was at one and the same time convulsively amusing and acidic. He saw the funny side, yet he was merciless in his search for the truth.

SEARCHING FOR HEROES is a collection of Ian's articles on his heroes - including Mohammed Ali, Shane Warne and George Best - as well as articles on events and personalities that were on the receiving end of his more acerbic commentaries.

Wooldridge brought back an intelligence to modern sports journalism, and an idealism that had become somewhat tarnished. To Ian Wooldridge sport was more than a game. It was a life.