Life is often full of surprises, especially when you believe you know much about the people who operate in your sphere of activity. I must admit to a few real surprises.

While researching for my recent book, “Grasping the Ring II,” I discovered that:

• Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy who championed western values and justice on the movie and television screens for years, gave deserving charities some $250 million and his trust still provides more than $6 million a year for deserving causes. Only actor Paul Newman played in his charitable league and that was many years later.

Autry became country music’s first genuine star, writing and recording hundreds of songs. Perhaps his biggest hit was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” a song that he never especially liked and one that was recorded in a single take. It remains one of the top 20 records in sales every Christmas.

I knew Gene Autry as the revered owner of the California Angels and as a patient mentor.

• Legendary Jerry West remembers playing basketball as a kid in the hills of West Virginia. Nothing stopped him. He braved wind, rain, and even snow. Often he practiced until his hands were bleeding.

He was recruited by more than 60 universities, but he knew where he wanted to go, where he would feel at home: West Virginia University.

A consensus All-American, he left Morgantown with 12 WVU all-time records and he went on to win a gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics as co-captain.

During his extraordinary 14-year career as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, he was brilliant in all aspects of the game. He was known in the National Basketball Association for a deadly jump shot, for his tenacious defense, for his obsessive perfection, for unabashed confidence, and for a heretofore unseen will to win. West, who broke his nose nine times, led the Lakers to the NBA finals the same number of times, and he earned the nickname, “Mr. Clutch.” He played with another legend of the game, Wilt Chamberlain, and they were unstoppable.

Known for his humility and loyalty, he eventually gave West Virginia University more money than all he had earned from a highly successful professional basketball-playing career. I know of no other professional athlete who has been as generous to his alma mater.

I knew Jerry West while serving as president of WVU.

• Despite numerous death threats, Jackie and Rachel Robinson returned from baseball games at old Ebbets Field on the subway, talking with numerous people, young and old, black and white, about the day’s events. The Robinsons had no security assigned to them.

The Hall of Fame second baseman of the old Brooklyn Dodgers and his wife were people of conviction who felt compelled to carry the message of civil rights, a decade before Martin Luther King Jr. arrived on the scene. They were often embattled as they traveled to all corners of the United States and around the globe, advocating fairness, racial equity, and opportunity for all people.

In conversation with me, Rachel told me Jackie was “never a victim, and neither was I.”

This remarkable woman thought they were fortunate to “make a difference.” She never sought the spotlight, but she never shied away from it when the common good was at stake. I believe she deserves her own place in American history.

As president of the American League, I witnessed her commitment first hand. My friend and National League counterpart, Len Coleman, and I worked with Rachel to advance opportunities for deserving young people through the Jackie Robinson Foundation. More than 1,300 young scholars have been identified and funded for the college experience by the foundation that Rachel heads and Coleman chairs.

So never take anyone for granted; remember to pause, think and look around; you just might be amazed at what you discover about the people around you.