Golden memories...
Although separated by some 20 years, there were 2 events that occurred on this date that are worthy of today's feature story. Both of them took place at the Olympics...
The Manhattans topped the charts with "Kiss and Say Goodbye" when tiny 14-year old Romanian, Nadia Comaneci took her turn at the parallel bars in 1976 at the Montreal Olympics. All Nadia did was score a perfect 10 and become an overnight sensation in the blink of an eye...
20 years later, in 1996 the city of Atlanta hosted the XXVI Olympic games. While there were medals to be won in another exciting Olympiad, the highlight of the games took place on opening night as Muhammad Ali ignited the Olympic flame...
Both events took place on July 19...
More July 19 Memories...
1954) Sun Records releases "That's All Right Mama" by Elvis Presley...
1958) The Drifters manager fires the entire group, replacing them with members of The Crowns whose lead singer is Ben E. King...
1961) TWA shows the 1st in-flight movie...
1966) 50-year old Frank Sinatra marries 21-year old Mia Farrow...
1967) The 1st air conditioned New York City subway (the "F") rolls down the tracks...
1968) Hugh Masekela tops the charts with the instrumental version of "Grazing in the Grass"...
1975) "Dance With Me" by Orleans is released...
1976) Montreal Olympics (feature story)...
1976) Deep Purple breaks up...
1976) The Manhattans are #1 with "Kiss and Say Goodbye"...
1980) Billy Joel goes gold with "It's Still Rock and Roll To Me"...
1982) Future Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn makes his ML debut with 2 hits...
1986) Caroline Kennedy (28) marries Edwin Schlossberg (41)...
1996) Muhammad Ali lights the Olympic flame (feature story)...
Happy Birthday to...
1922) George McGovern...
1924) Pat Hingle...
1926) Sue ("Norman") Thompson...
1937) George ("A Rose and a Baby Ruth") Hamilton IV...
1940) Dennis Cole...
1941) Vikki Carr...
1946) Ilie Nastase...
1947) The Eagles' Bernie Leadon...
1962) Anthony ("ER") Edwards...
Commentary...
The first thing that struck me about meeting Muhammad Ali was his size. The man is big. He's also very shy. He was quick to offer his hand, didn't say much but he oozed self-assurance and confidence in his handshake. We briefly chatted about his version of "Stand By Me" in the 60s, a very credible cover of the Ben E. King hit if you've never heard it...
The meeting was brief and before Ali started showing signs of his Parkinson's Disease. I would later have the occasion to run into him again, this time Ali who could "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee" was standing by himself in a corner of the room, alone with his thoughts. We exchanged greetings before Ali's entourage took him away to shake some hands and work the room...
I walked away from that meeting with another opinion of Muhammad Ali. In addition to being big, shy, self-assured and confident, this was a terribly lonely man. Whatever your feelings might be about Ali tossing his medals in the Detroit River, his refusal to serve his country, if you ever get the chance to meet him, you will come away liking him...
