Shoe Dog: 4. 1964 Summary & Analysis

In the first week of 1964, Knight receives a shipment from Japan. He picks it up and hurriedly takes it home. When Knight opens the box, he sees a dozen pairs of beautiful Tiger running shoes. Immediately, Knight sends two pairs to Bill Bowerman, his former track coach at Oregon. Knight deeply respects Bowerman because Bowerman was the first person who made him think about the importance of shoes. Knight was on Bowerman’s team for four years, and for the entire time he was there, Bowerman was constantly innovating and thinking about how to craft the best running shoe.

Knight thinks the Tigers will appeal to Bowerman and hopes he will order more in the future. Regardless, Knight values Bowerman’s opinion and wants to know his feedback. He knows it will be challenging to gain Bowerman’s approval. Bowerman rarely gives up compliments, though they feel all the more gratifying because of their scarceness. Knight desperately wants Bowerman’s support and thinks of him as a father-figure.

Knight recalls the first time he met Bowerman. Immediately, he both loved and feared the man. Although Bowerman has much in common with Bill, including the same first name, the two men value different things. To Bill, the most important trait in the world is respectability. Meanwhile, Bowerman could care less about respectability. However, he is a respectable man. He is a war hero and the grandson of those who braved the Oregon Trail.

At Oregon, Bowerman practiced austerity. The running team’s locker room was a dark, dank facility with little going for it. The athletes hung their clothes on rusty nails and occasionally ran without socks. However, the runners never complained. They had too much respect for Bowerman and his operation. Knight admits that he thinks of Bowerman as an ancient god with a temper similar to what one might expect from the gods of Mount Olympus. One of Knight’s teammates at Oregon told him a story about how Bowerman once rigged his mailbox with explosives to teach a careless driver who kept running into it a lesson. Apparently, the explosives destroyed the driver’s vehicle, and he never went near Bowerman’s mailbox again.

One time, when Knight was a sophomore at Oregon, he told Bowerman he could not practice because he was sick with the flu. Bowerman forced Knight to practice anyway and pushed him hard. Knight fought through the illness and ran one of his best times. Although the experience was painful, Knight realizes now that it was formative and recognizes that Bowerman taught him an important lesson about perseverance.

After Knight sends the shoes off to Bowerman, he immediately hears back. Bowerman tells Knight he will be in Portland one week later and suggests they get lunch together. On January 25, 1964, Knight and Bowerman meet at a restaurant. They spend some time catching up and then talk business. The Tigers impress Bowerman, and he asks Knight if he can join Knight’s fledgling business. The offer shocks Knight, though he immediately accepts. Bowerman gets 50% of the company if he puts up 50% of the money.

Weeks later, Bowerman and Knight meet with Bowerman’s lawyer, John Jaqua, to finalize their deal in writing. Knight drives to Bowerman’s home, which he describes as a “stone fortress” with beautiful landscaping. Knight is happy to see Bowerman, but he worries about Jaqua. He does not know Jaqua and is instinctually distrustful of lawyers. However, Jaqua greets Knight warmly and compliments the Tigers. 

Inside Bowerman’s home, Jaqua’s wife makes everyone hot chocolate, which they drink while having a casual conversation about the Oregon track team. Then, they switch to the business side of things. Jaqua suggests splitting the business so that 51% goes to Knight and 49% goes to Bowerman. That way, Knight still controls everything, and Bowerman can act primarily as a financial backer. Knight quickly accepts the deal.

Later the same day, Knight sends a letter to Onitsuka asking to be the sole distributor of Tiger shoes in the western USA. He also asks for $1,000 worth of Tiger shoes as soon as possible. In order to afford the shipment, Knight has to ask Bill for more money. This time, Bill is hesitant. He wants his son to succeed and be respectable, and he does not think this start-up shoe company is the way to do it.

Knight’s mother, Lota, overhears the conversation between Knight and Bill. When she realizes that Bill doesn’t plan to give his son the money, Lota opens her purse, gives Knight seven dollars, and asks to purchase a pair of Tigers. Knight does not know whether the gesture is a dig at his father, a show of support, or something else entirely. Either way, it gets Bill to loan his son the money.

Knight’s parents met at a department store in Roseburg, where Lota was a model. Bill immediately asked her on a date, and eight months later, they got married. Bill and Lota had little in common, though they both grew up poor and did everything they could to avoid sinking back into poverty. Although they loved each other and the family they built together, Bill and Lota’s personalities clashed and often got the better of them. They would regularly argue; afterward, Bill would drink, and Lota would become cold and distant.

Knight feels connected to Lota because she is also a great athlete. He recalls a time when he was 12 when his mother easily cleared the five-foot mark on a high jump course. He also recalls how dedicated Lota was to his running career. When Knight was a sophomore and grew a painful wart on his foot, Lota cured it herself after a podiatrist recommended surgery that would have ensured Knight missed an entire season.

In April of 1964, Knight receives the $1,000 shipment of shoes. A few days later, he gets a letter from Miyazaki declaring him the exclusive distributor of Onitsuka shoes in the Western United States. Overjoyed, Knight quits his day job and dedicates himself to selling shoes out of the trunk of his car. In order to move units, Knight drives around to various track meets in the Pacific Northwest and pitches his product to everyone he can. Almost always, people find the shoes impressive and place an order. After some time, Knight also receives letters and phone calls asking to purchase a pair of Tigers. On occasion, people even show up at his parents’ house.

By July 4, 1964, Knight sell out of his first shipment and has to write Onitsuka for home. However, he wants a more significant shipment—$3,000 this time—and does not have the money. Furthermore, Bill will not lend it to him. As such, Knight has to go to the First National Bank of Oregon for a loan. Luckily, Bill’s good name allows Knight to get the loan, which he uses to order more shoes.

Because business is going so well, Knight decides to add another salesman to his team. While selling shoes in California, he runs into Jeff Johnson, a fellow runner Knight met at Stanford. Johnson tells Knight he works as a social worker during the week but sells shoes for Adidas on the weekends. Knight asks Johnson to quit working for Adidas so he can sell shoes for him instead. Johnson likes Knight’s shoes but does not think he is ready to take on a new business venture at the moment. Knight understands and does not take the rejection too hard because everything else has gone so well lately.

Unfortunately, Knight’s bad luck begins to snowball. Shortly after his trip to California, he receives a letter from a high school wrestling coach in Long Island, whom he calls the “Marlboro Man,” who claims he is the exclusive destructor of Onitsuka in the USA. Distressed, Knight calls his cousin, Doug Houser, a lawyer, and asks him what to do. He also writes a letter to Onitsuka in an attempt to figure out what is going on. When he doesn’t receive a reply, Knight decides the only way to save his business is to fly to Japan and confront the Onitsuka executives directly.

On his way to Japan, Knight reads a book called How to Do Business with the Japanese and does his best to memorize its teachings. He desperately wants his company to work out and will do anything to ensure he can be effective in his upcoming meeting. In Japan, Knight contacts Onitsuka and finds out Miyazaki no longer works there. However, Mr. Morimoto, Miyazaki’s replacement, wants to meet Knight for tea at his hotel.

The following day, Knight meets with Morimoto, who is roughly the same age as Knight. Knight tells Morimoto about his past business dealings with Miyazaki and what has happened with the Marlboro Man. Morimoto listens to Knight’s appeal and tells him he will get back to him. The following day, Knight receives a call asking him to come to Onitsuka headquarters because Mr. Onitsuka, the company’s founder, wants to speak with him.

Knight meets with Onitsuka and repeats what he said to Morimoto the day before. After Knight finishes his pitch, Onitsuka gives a speech about how he wants his brand to be a worldwide name one day. Then, he says that Knight reminds him of himself as a young man and, as such, he wants to give him the rights to sales in the Western United States. Knight thanks everyone and assures them they will not regret their decision. Then, he places a $3,500 order of shoes. 

While he is in Japan, Knight decides to climb Mount Fuji. He starts at night so that he can arrive at the peak to watch the sunrise. On the way up the mountain, he meets a woman named Sarah from Maryland who is studying philosophy at Connecticut College for Women. Knight and Sarah quickly hit it off, and Knight tells her about his recent meeting with Onitsuka. 

Knight and Sarah spend the next few days together in Japan, laughing and falling in love. However, when it comes time to leave, they do not exchange information. After Sarah is gone, Knight realizes he is an idiot for not finding a way to stay in touch with her. He decides to go to the American Express office, where he knows she must also go. There, he leaves a message asking her to come to his parent’s house in Portland before returning home.

A few weeks later, Sarah shows up in Portland. She immediately hits it off with Knight’s family, and they allow her to stay with them for as long as she wants. Knight quickly falls in love with Sarah, though he is unsure whether she likes him as much as he likes her. Eventually, Sarah breaks up with Knight via letter, citing that he is not “sophisticated” enough for her. Sarah’s rejection devastates Knight, but he continues to work hard on Blue Ribbon. Shortly after Sarah breaks up with Knight, Knight offers his sister Jeanne a secretarial job. She accepts the position and becomes Blue Ribbon’s first employee.