At 80, Renee Richards Reflects on Her Place in History

Reuters caught up with the legendary Renee Richards, who says she's still amazed she broke the transgender taboo:

"How could I have actually gone out there in front of thousands of people as this notorious transsexual and compete against young women?" Richards, 80, told the news agency by phone from New York state.  "I didn't know whether I was going to be shot at, or whether I was just going to be yelled at."

Still practicing ophthalmology, Richards doesn't like being called a trailblazer or role model, saying she was "only one of a lot of pioneers." "I was certainly the one in the world of sports," she said. "But there have been others. There have been great strides made by other courageous people."

Rumors that she's been "counseling" Bruce Jenner are completely false, by the way, but perhaps most surprising is that she had a third book out last year -- "Spy Night and Other Memories a Collection of Stories from Dick and Renee" -- that I've never even heard of!

Read the full article, including comments from Billie Jean King and a funny observations from Nancy Richey, HERE.

Order HERE.