So Kate Fagan grew up playing basketball with a dad in upstate New York before going on to play division one ball for Colorado University in Boulder and then do a stint as a pro upon graduating.
But all the while, another passion was brewing, and that was writing.
It had actually taken hold in her early teens, but really had taken a back shelf to sport.
And finally it was kind of clamoring to take center stage.
So Kate walked away from a career playing basketball and into a career as a journalist, starting at a small local paper, eventually working her way into a position at the Philadelphia Enquirer covering the Sixers, before landing at ESPN as a columnist, as a features writer, and eventually an on air personality, where she stayed for about seven years before just recently leaving behind the scenes, Kate was also grappling with her own sexual identity, kind of fearful that coming out might affect her professional opportunities and also yearning to devote more energy to bigger, more meaningful stories.
And this led to her first book, the Reappearing act, where she shared her sort of coming out story, followed three years later by a massive New York Times bestseller called what made Maddie run?
Which is this deeply revealing, upsetting, but ultimately powerful and important look at how life as a young college student and athlete can lead to sometimes really horrifying outcomes, and how maybe we can all be more vigilant and have tough conversations that just might create the space for people who are suffering to find solace.
And along the way, Kate also fell in love.
She got married a few years back and learned that her father, her lifelong basketball pickup game partner, has Als.
In today's conversation, we explore all of these moments, how she made these changes, what was going on in the conversation, in her head and her heart, along with also an unexpected but pretty fascinating look at the perceptions and misperceptions of women's professional sports in this country and their relationship with the media and fandom and so much more.
So excited to share this conversation with you.
I'm Jonathan Fields, and this is good life project.
So we're hanging out in New York City.
You're down in Charleston right now, but you actually grew up a couple hours north of here.
Yes, I grew up in Schenectady.
Beautiful Schenectady, kind of outside Albany ish.
Right?
If you have it, right.
Yeah, it's outside Albany.
My parents now have a place, like in Lake George.