“Thula exploded in the face of what she saw as lax discipline. Feeling trapped, growing desperate, she finally declared that she would not live under the same roof with Joe, that it was him or her, that Joe had to move out if she were to stay in such a god-forsaken place. Harry could not calm her down, and he could not abide the thought of losing a second wife, certainly not one as lovely as Thula. He went back upstairs and told his son he would have to move out of the house. Joe was ten.” — from The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, by Daniel James Brown

Joe Rantz was born into a desperately poor family during the Great Depression. As a young child he lost his mother to throat cancer; shortly thereafter his father deserted the family. Joe was shipped off to stay with an aunt. When his father finally returned, he decided he needed a new wife. He married Thula.

After Joe was kicked out (Thula was the epitome of the evil stepmother), his life was filled with hardship. But he was strong, worked hard and never gave up. Eventually he attended University of Washington and passed the physically demanding requirements of the crew team. He found it to be a painful, demanding and merciless enterprise and embraced the challenge.