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Stedman
was a basketball star at Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.
He graduated in 1974, then went on to play the European Basketball League.
In 1979 Stedman earned a graduate degree in education from Ball State
University in Muncie, Indiana. He is divorced and has a grown daughter,
Wendy. Wendy grew up living with her mother, Glenda, in Dallas but spent
time with her father and Oprah.
Stedman worked in prison education before switching careers in the late
1980s. He now owns a Chicago-based, sports-oriented marketing and public
relations firm and is founder of a non-profit organization called Athletes
Against Drugs. Additionally, Stedman has written a column for Inside Sports
magazine and is author of two inspirational books based on his life in
sports.
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“Sport
is what I love,” says Stedman. Stedman’s first book, You can
make it happen: A Nine Step Plan for Success, was published by Simon &
Schuster in 1997. A smaller book, You Can Make It Happen Every Day, was
published in 1998. Stedman grew up in the working-class community
of Whitesboro, New Jersey. He often heard the discouraging remark, “nothing
good comes out of Whitesboro.” He says he was too light-complexioned
to be accepted by many blacks but not light enough to be accepted by most
white people. Additionally, he was taunted by classmates because his two
younger brothers were mentally disabled.
“I feel comfortable with who I am, although I haven’t always,”
says Stedman. “I give Oprah credit for helping me understand that
the source of my pain was in the past.” Regarding Oprah’s
influence and wealth, he says: “When you’re with a powerful
woman who makes more money than you – of course, she makes more
money than anybody – it’s tough on a man. But if you can build
something for yourself that’s special, it doesn’t matter who
your mate is.” |
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