Muhammad Ali RIP

The professional boxer Muhammad Ali passed day before yesterday at 9:10 Mountain Time in Phoenix surrounded by his family.

Having a rather 'alpha male tumultuous start' his was a polarizing personality and the subject of controversy over the years.

However you felt, his persistence over the years pretty much left you impressed with his sheer tenacity and I for one admired his accomplishments both in and out of the ring.

Sitting over at my late friend Dewitt's house in Red Bank one day we saw him being interviewed by Howard Cosell some time after he began to show the tremor of Parkinsonism. Mr Cosell said something to the effect of "Muhammad why are you shaking so much" to which he got in his face and yelled "Do I look like I'm shaking?" in full flexing exaggerated tremor.

I knew then that this man could be funny in the presence of devastating adversity and he had me from that moment on.

So he endured the injury borne of numerous blows to the head with both stoicism and acceptance and he won the world over with the person that he was when all the theatrics associated with those many upcoming events were over.

Rest in peace.
 

Muhammad Ali Professional Boxer January 17, 1942 - June 3, 2016