Venerable, one-time mass circulation Reader's Digest carried a regular feature entitled "My Most Unforgettable Chacter" in which an author would then introduce and explain an offbeat or colorful person he had personally encountered.
Today, on the occasion of my idol/my friend Muhammad Ali's 69th birthday, this former president of the grandly named "International Cassius Clay Fan Club" can tell you you could've filled a year's editions of Reader's Digest with stories on the wild and whacky people who were in the personal orbit of "The Greatest."
Many of the most well known figures in the Ali entourage, which a clever New York Post headline writer named Pat "Hondo" Hannigan once labeled "Ali's Free Ring Circus" above a column of mine circa 1979, are dead.
Lana Shabazz, the "mother wit" who ran the Ali Deer Lake (Pa.) training camp kitchen like a culinary dictatorship but also had a sweet side, is gone. Last I heard, she was cooking for a private school on the East Side.
Pat Patterson, the solid ex-Chicago cop who guarded Muhammad even when he went to take a leak (not a Wikileak, either), is departed. And so has his protege who became bodyguard to Sugar Ray Leonard and then to Hollywood stars, James Anderson. (His son, Jamal, played for the Atlanta Falcons.)
So who's still around?
Well, "The Facilitator" Gene Kilroy, for one.
Everywhere Ali went, you could say "Kilroy was here."
The lone white face in Ali's circle, other than trainer Angelo Dundee ("Angelo ain't white...he's Eyetalian" the champ once said), Kilroy was the link who brought Kennedys and other big names from the sports, entertainment and political worlds around to meet and greet Ali.
It was because of Kilroy that the young Marley got to take a photo with musical giant Kris Kristofferson (see photo above).
Kilroy lives in Las Vegas and, I think, is a gladhander-casino host-greeter at the Golden Nugget.
As long as Kilroy is walking and talking, one of Ali's Apostles will keep the legend alive.
Kilroy has become the Keeper of the Ali Flame and he holds it high and steady.
(To be continued)
Next chapters: Angelo Dundee; Dr. Ferdie Pacheco; Wali Youngblood Muhammad; Diamond Jim Riley; Jimmy Ellis; Mel Turnbow; Harvey Cody Jones; Lloyd Wells; Flip Speight, the World's Greatest Ticket Scalper and Gatecrasher; Stacks Edwards and more...
Comments
is Li'l Ape Jr still alive?
yeah still alive and kicking women
and F HERNANDEZ OF BOXINGNEWS 24.....OF THEIR NON-STOP BIAS AND TWISTED STORIES AGAINST MANNY AND DONAIRE because THEY ARE "NO AMERICANOS".
THESE 3 STOOGIES....WANNABE WRITER/REPORTERS....WHY THEY ARE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE these BIAS UNPROFESSIONAL, UN-ETHICAL OF TRUE AND BALANCE WRITER.
MAY BE THEY ARE PAID BY SOMEONE TO WRITE A BLACK PROPAGANDA AGAINST DONAIRE AND MANNY....or THEY ARE JUST A BLIND FLOYD FANS???
@Coach
Is pacroid going to use peds again to gain more advantage on this fight ??
NO. THE ONES USING PEDS ARE YOU IDOLS LI'L FA*GOT FLOYD AND THAT DUMBFUKK WETB@CK MARTINEZ.
YOU CAN EAT MANNY"S SH!T AND DIE. YOU LIMP DIKK LOSER!!
HAHAHAHAHAHA
I'm a regular Pacland reader, and I always avoid Michael Marley articles because they are such a pain to read. This is no exception.. seriously Marley, are you on crack when you write your stuff? I could barely follow your train of thought.
I guess you got derailed, son.
@Maestro Sucio(dirty) tsk tsk tsk..envious on Manny Pacquiao..you looser.CRAB!
Orbit? Obit... cheap headline, Mike. Thought the great man had gone
Kevin, I would never do that to The Greatest. I just meant his "orbit" meaning how all the characters revolved around him.
So it was not a cheap headline, sorry if you misinterpreted it like so.
@M. Marley, obviously when it comes to Manny you're a racist. Why ? Is it because he's not an American? White man like you are trying to discredit the best p4p Asian? SIRA ULO ka pala!
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