Best-of-breed chronicle of the ‘People’s Champion’
and the electrifying sport he dominated
by Steve bo Keeley
Reviewed by Brian Wright

When I was a boy I read sports’ biographies incessantly, predominantly about idols of mine in baseball… because that is the game I dreamt of one day of playing as an adult and becoming famous for. It was a totally positive approach, wanting to take part in the ecstasy of simply ‘being there’ in a big league world… I can still remember the glorious smells and feels of baseball, in which I did manage to get a letter in high school. It was a conscious decision, roughly at the age of 16, not to pursue the baseball dream… instead to participate in and lead ’causes;’ quite possibly even likely I didn’t possess the natural ability to make it to the show anyway. My point is the motivation was all positive: I looked at the goal as an ideal, a way of life to embrace as who I wanted to be, fully accepting of the good and the bad, the ups and the downs. A life worth aspiring to, win or lose. — bw Continue reading →