Jerry West Digital Collection

The Jerry West Papers at the WVRHC


The Jerry West Digital Collection currently contains only a fraction of the materials in A&M 3884, the Jerry West Papers. This manuscript collection is comprised of over 18 linear feet of letters, scrapbooks, photographs, videos, sound recordings, and artifacts.

The collection includes materials that West loaned to Jonathan Coleman for use in co-authoring the memoir West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life, which offers a candid account of West's personal and professional life. They include items from West's time at East Bank High School, his college recruitment and basketball career at WVU, his employment with the Lakers, his career as a basketball coach for the Lakers and manager for the Memphis Grizzlies, his family life, events honoring him, and more.

Also included are Coleman's book drafts, material he collected for background research, his research notes, and interviews he conducted for the book. Most interviews are with Jerry West; other interviewees include Karen West and other family members, as well as Willie Akers, Fred Schaus, Mitch Kupchak, Jeanie Buss, Elgin Baylor, Gary Colson, Jerry Buss, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan.

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