This is my read for the week -- especially for sports fans. And, if you are a tennis fan, then this is a must-read. 

​I don't love the random first-person interjections the writer uses -- it's distracting to me. "Venus told me another story:," Weil writes at one point. Why not just relay the story? 

Still, this is a fluid, cool analysis that brings so much to the story of Venus Williams. It is the best thing I've read this week. 

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This is one of those stories you don't want to end.

You want the words to keep popping up -- for them to keep telling you more about Markelle, to answer the questions you have for him, to paint the images you are conjuring just a little more clearly. You want to keep reading because it is that good. 

Patricia Leigh Brown gives us the story of Markelle Taylor,  a marathon runner who spent 18 years in the San Quentin state prison. 

Brown, who completely coincidentally lives in Hamden (at least, according to LInkedIn she does), is a contributor to the Times, publishing about once a month. Her work is well worth your time.

These are the kind of stories that make journalism so special. This is a human story. And, if not for the journalist, then how do we ever learn this story? We don't... and that makes us less human. 

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