Includes index.

Introduction by Fay T. Vincent -- The Last American Hero -- An Unlikely Friendship -- Dinner with DiMaggio -- In the Melting Pot -- La Bella Figura -- Stand Up Guy -- Take Me Out to the Ball Game -- A Legend on Legends -- Love Lost -- Fans in High Places -- It's Cold on the Tundra -- The Patron Saint of Kids -- 3 Winding Down -- Swinging in Coney Island -- Last Dinner with DiMaggio -- Afterword -- A Simple Memorial for a Simple Man -- Acknowledgments.

Introduction by Fay T. Vincent -- The Last American Hero -- An Unlikely Friendship -- Dinner with DiMaggio -- In the Melting Pot -- La Bella Figura -- Stand Up Guy -- Take Me Out to the Ball Game -- A Legend on Legends -- Love Lost -- Fans in High Places-- It's Cold on the Tundra -- The Patron Saint of Kids -- 3 Winding Down -- Swinging in Coney Island -- Last Dinner with DiMaggio -- Afterword -- A Simple Memorial for a Simple Man -- Acknowledgments.

Foreword / Francis Ford Coppola -- Introduction / Fay T. Vincent -- The last American hero -- An unlikely friendship -- Dinner with DiMaggio -- In the melting pot -- La bella figura -- A stand-up guy -- Take me out to the ball game -- A legend on legends -- Love lost -- Fans in high places -- It's cold on the tundra -- The patron saint of kids -- Winding down -- Swinging in Coney Island -- Last dinner with DiMaggio -- A simple memorial for a simple man.

"The real Joe DiMaggio, remembered by the man who knew him best in the last decade of his life--candid and little-known stories about icons from Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, and his Yankees teammates on the field to Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and other great celebrities off the field. Dr. Rock Positano, an internationally renowned foot specialist in New York City, was introduced to Joe DiMaggio by the dean of New York sports writers, Bill Gallo, in 1990. The Yankee Clipper's career-ending heel spur injury and botched surgeries brought them together. During the time Dr. Positano successfully treated the Yankee Clipper, a friendship slowly developed. As Dr. Positano would learn, DiMaggio moved very carefully and deliberately. Dinner with DiMaggio follows the story of their friendship from its star-struck beginning through all its highs and lows over the next decade. Forty years younger than DiMaggio, Dr. Positano became a surrogate son at a time when his actual son was suffering from substance-abuse problems. Positano's accounts of their times together reveal DiMaggio's many rituals and quirks: the same meals at the same restaurants, the same pals in New York and Florida, jacket and tie everywhere. At the pinnacle of his fame, DiMaggio had learned to be guarded and carefully managed his image and private life. As his trust in his young friend grew, DiMaggio opened up about Marilyn, but also about his first wife, Dorothy Arnold, the mother of his son and the real love of his life. The Yankee Clipper knew everyone, and Positano shares never-before-told stories of famous people DiMaggio admired and those he didn't. This is DiMaggio as he really was: sometimes cranky and calculating, but more often charming, generous, loyal, and always big-hearted when it came to kids. The stories and experiences he shared with Rock Positano comprise an intimate portrait of one of the great stars of baseball and one of the icons of the twentieth century"-- Provided by publisher.

"Revealing and little-known stories of the great Yankees Hall of Famer from the man who knew him best in the last ten years of his life -- from Ted Williams and his Yankees teammates on the field to Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and other great celebrities off the field"-- Provided by publisher.

Rock Positano was introduced to DiMaggio in 1990 while he treated the Yankee Clipper's career-ending heel spur injury and botched surgeries. Positano became a surrogate son at a time when DiMaggio's actual son was suffering from substance-abuse problems. DiMaggio shared little-know stories about fellow baseball icons. He had learned to be guarded and carefully managed his image and private life, but as his trust grew DiMaggio also opened up about Marilyn, and his first wife, Dorothy Arnold, the mother of his son and the real love of his life.