Book goes forward without Knight.

Byline: Ron Bellamy The Register-Guard

Kenny Moore's biography of former University of Oregon track and field coach Bill Bowerman is now expected to reach the bookstores in May, but without, as previously scheduled, a foreword by one of Bowerman's most prominent former runners, Phil Knight.

"It's disappointing, but it's still a really good book," Knight said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I'm glad Kenny did it, and I'm glad it's going to get out. ... I still endorse the book. I think everybody should buy it. I think he did a great job on a very complicated topic."

Moore's book, "Bowerman and the Men of Oregon," had been originally scheduled to be released earlier this month, and was to include foreword written by Knight, the chairman of the board of Nike and the co-founder of that company with Bowerman.

However, although Moore signed copies of the book, sans foreword, at the recent Boston Marathon, general release of the book by Rodale Inc. had been delayed.

Initially, it was believed that the delay was so the book wouldn't precede the publication of Knight's foreword - the former University of Oregon journalism major said he wrote three drafts, in consultation with a writing coach - in this month's edition of Playboy magazine.

However, Knight said that negotiations between his lawyer and Rodale broke down over Knight's rights to have a voice in how Rodale would use his name, and Nike's, in advertising, and over Rodale's liability if any such agreement were breached.

Knight was not to be compensated for the foreword.

"Basically, I wanted some right as far as the use of my name in advertising and the use of Nike's endorsement and that sort of thing," Knight said. "From my standpoint, I would have thought, `30 minutes and you work it out.' But that's not how it worked out. ...

"All I asked for was that if they advertise, they get permission, and I would have given it. ... (And) if they would agree that I have those rights, what would happen if they get violated, and that's where we bogged down."

Knight said he thought an agreement had been reached, except for final details, on March 1, but that subsequently Rodale assigned a new lawyer. He said the parties resumed contact April 4, four days before the book was dedicated at Hayward Field and a week before a scheduled release date, "and they wanted to start all over in the negotiations."

Knight said he was notified recently that Rodale had decided to publish the book without his forward.

"At the end of the day, I guess my feeling is that it was sort of a failure to communicate," Knight said.

Mia Carbonell, senior vice president of corporate communications for Rodale, issued a written, two-sentence statement Tuesday: "We are grateful to Phil Knight for his efforts and regret that we couldn't reach an agreement. Nonetheless, we believe that Kenny Moore has written an immensely compelling story that needed to be told and that readers will enjoy."

Moore, also a former Oregon runner, said Tuesday that he is "really disappointed. It would have been a much, much more complete book with him, because who knew Bill Bowerman in more respects over a greater period, to mutual benefit, than Phil? I'm really disappointed."

Moore said he didn't want to comment on reasons for the inability of Knight and Rodale to reach an agreement - "it's more complicated than the public statements" - until he had a chance to talk with Knight personally.

"There will be future printings," Moore said. "It's not like it totally forecloses it in my mind. In some future perfect volume, I would look forward to finding a way to have him in there."

Knight's moving foreword recounted how Knight came to Oregon to run for Bowerman at age 17, and described their relationship as coach and athlete, and Bowerman's words to him as a departing senior - "Never underestimate yourself" - and their business partnership.

"Today, more hardcore young runners come to visit Hayward Field than ever before," Knight wrote, near the end. "They come for a talk with the ghosts, the ones from the Olympic Trials of 1972, 1976 and 1980 and all those national and invitational meets. They take in the West Grandstand, which seems to have come right out of Chariots of Fire. They walk around the urethane track where Lee Evans, John Smith, Marion Jones and Hicham El Guerrouj and, of course, Steve Prefontaine raced. Then they wander to the north corner, where the life-size statue of Bowerman oversees everything. Always, they run their hands over the statue, hoping some of the magic will rub off.

"The silences are permanent now.

"Yet over all these years, I have communicated with and heard much about many of those old (Oregon) runners. Many went back to their small towns. They became doctors, lawyers, architects, farmers, educators, business leaders and, in at least one case, writers. They've survived divorces and dashed hopes. We cannot shake the voice, the voice that at various times came out of voids - the empty rooms, the unfinished sentences, the unreadable workout schedules.

"Bowerman runs with us still."