Muhammad Ali

Richard Durham

Current heavyweight boxing champion of the world offers a blow-by-blow commentary on his life, his profession, his fights, his family and friends, and his fellow prizefighters

The Greatest, My Own Story

Everybody knows the record the stuff of almanacs, trade magazines and clipping services. A handful know the man. But only Muhammad Ali knows his life as he lived it. The Greatest is Ali's own story. For six years he worked, traveled and talked with Richard Durham, a writer with a stunning talent, and the result is mesmerizing in its brilliance, drama, humanity and sheer entertainment. This is no documented scrapbook of wins and losses strung together with anecdotes; nor is it a thin potpourri of locker room gags. This book, like Ali who has incited every reaction except indifference goes straight to the place where responses to him have always been the gut. When the history of the twentieth century is finally recorded, it must include Muhammad Ali. He is "The Greatest."

My Own Story

The Greatest

Clarice Durham

In light of discriminatory traditions and pervasive distortions and stereotypes of blacks in the arts in the United States, the appearance in the late 1940s of the radio program "Destination Freedom" represents a striking incongruity. Broadcast for over two years over WMAQ, the Chicago affiliate of NBC, this provocative half-hour feature probed with candor the achievements and careers of eminent blacks. This volume consists of the 15 most important "Destination Freedom" scripts, each introduced with a short history of the subject matter and consideration of the script within Richard Durham's intellectual world view. Durham is considered one of the most significant Afro-American dramatists in broadcasting history and his achievement is stunning, especially when set against the history of blacks in radio.

Scripts from Radio's Black Legacy, 1948-50

Richard Durham's Destination Freedom

In his own words, the heavyweight champion of the world pulls no punches as he chronicles the battles he faced in and out of the ring in this fascinating memoir edited by Nobel Prize-winning novelist, Toni Morrison. Growing up in the South, surrounded by racial bigotry and discrimination, Ali fought not just for a living, but also for respect and rewards far more precious than money or glory. He was named Sportsman of the Century by Sports Illustrated and the BBC. Ali redefined what it meant to be an athlete by giving hope to millions around the world and inspiring us all to fight for what is important to us. This is a multifaceted portrait of Muhammad Ali only he could render: sports legend; unapologetic anti-war advocate; outrageous showman and gracious goodwill ambassador; fighter, lover, poet, and provocateur; an irresistible force to be reckoned with. Who better to tell the tale than the man who went the distance living it?

Richard Durham

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