Lois and Tom Gibbons, of Bend, came to pay tribute not only to a good book Sunday but also to a man they knew and loved.

The Gibbonses, both retired schoolteachers, were among about 114 people who snubbed the Sunday sunshine to participate in the kickoff of Deschutes Public Library System’s annual community read, ”A Novel Idea … Read Together.” This year’s book selection was ”Bowerman and the Men of Oregon,” marathon runner Kenny Moore’s biography about famed track coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman, who died in 1999.

”It’s a wonderful story, and it’s told extremely well by Kenny Moore,” said Lois Gibbons, 77.

The committee that selected the book was made up of community members, authors, librarians and English teachers who read throughout the summer and select a book for the community to read together, said Chantal Strobel, community relations manager for the library system.

”We selected it because it speaks to Oregon,” she said. ”He was a true pioneer. As a lot of newcomers come to the area, it kind of goes back to our roots.”

Bowerman’s life story struck Strobel.

”This man did more in his life than most of us could ever dream of doing,” she said.

Bowerman invented the first running shoe and essentially introduced jogging to Americans.

The audience members were treated to a lively hour and 15 minutes of music and stories shared by Jay and Jon Bowerman, two of Bill and Barbara Bowerman’s three sons.

Jay Bowerman sang folk songs that made their hometown of Fossil, the Eastern Oregon town founded by Bowerman ancestors, come alive in his bluegrass band, Quincy Street.

Meanwhile, his brother Jon Bowerman, a horse trainer who lives in Fossil, had the group chuckling as he related stories about his family and friends. But while he spoke with humor, Jon Bowerman also spoke from the heart.

Bill Bowerman’s legacy, he said, was not the 31 Olympic athletes he coached or the fact that he helped found fitness giant Nike.

”The real legacy I think that Bill left is, ‘When you do something, do it because you really love to do it,’” Jon Bowerman said. ”Don’t do it for the money, the benefits or the prestige.”

Jon Bowerman said he read the book three times, and he enjoyed it – despite the fact that the publisher cut about 250 pages of it for length.

”I think it’s a real honor for Kenny and for the family,” he said.

The Bowerman book gave a good history of his father and the region, he said.

Sunday’s kickoff was the first of 25 events celebrating Bowerman, including films, lectures and concerts throughout the community.

The community read is sponsored by the Deschutes Public Library Foundation, the Starview Foundation, the William Swin-dells Sr. Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation and the E.H. and M.E. Bowerman Advised Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation.

The sponsors helped the library system raise about $40,000 to purchase 600 copies of Moore’s books, which will be distributed throughout the library’s five branches, Strobel said.

Nancy Stewart, of Bend, said this is the third year she has participated in the community read and the Bowerman book is among her favorites.

Participating in the book discussion – especially since it depicts regional people and events – makes the book more meaningful, said Stewart, 61.

”This being much more local also makes it much more entertaining,” she said.