As the saying goes, you learn something every day.
On June 4, only hours after hearing news of Muhammad Ali's death, I also learned a nugget of music, sports and film trivia that blew my mind a little.
For 30 years, millions of fans including this writer found inspiration in the hit song "Greatest Love of All" performed by Whitney Houston.
But few seem to know or remember the tune's direct ties to the legendary Olympic and professional boxer.
According to a video shared via the late singer's Facebook page, a teenage Houston saw the critically-panned Ali feature film "The Greatest" at a theatre in 1977, and she walked away feeling Ali was "the most marvelous man" she had ever seen.
"In that movie, there was a song, a song as inspirational as you are," Houston said to Ali, on stage at his 50th birthday celebration aired in 1992. "I love the song, as I love Muhammad Ali, and a few years later I had the opportunity to record it."
The birthday telecast brought Houston the first opportunity to sing "The Greatest Love of All" for the man who inspired the lyrics all those years earlier.
Those lyrics, penned by Linda Creed and set to music by hit maker Michael Masser -- later revealed to be based on a section of "If You Could Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot -- created a top five R&B hit for George Benson in 1977 and later Houston's recording became her third-largest career smash hit.
Not sure about folks reading this, but for me the song's inspirational words now have entirely new and richly expressive meanings tied to Ali's lonely struggles as a black man in the U.S. South, a war protester and a prize fighter in pursuit or defense of his heavyweight title.
Mind blown.
It's moving to see/hear the "new to my ears" version of "Greatest Love of All" performed by Houston at the first of two Ali tribute events in which she participated (the latter, from 1998, is here, and it also features Houston telling the back story of the song).
Also love it that James Earl Jones, who appeared with Ali in "The Greatest" on the eve of recording Darth Vader's voice, was in the audience at this GQ award presentation, a testament to the relationships Ali formed and maintained for decades.
I read about Muhammad Ali twice on Friday, hours before meeting a new friend for late-night drinks and spotting the TV headlines reporting his death.
During the afternoon, a promo showed up advertising a weekend cable TV special set to describe the search for Ali's "lost" gold medal. And at dinner hours later, Ali's health appeared in headlines out of Arizona.
Very sad to read he is no longer with us, and like learning about others who left this world earlier this year, the memory of learning of Ali's death -- where I was and who shared that experience -- will likely stay with me for decades.
My earliest Ali memories are from highlight reels on ABC "Wide World of Sports" or in Olympic history books of my youth.
"The Greatest" popping up to greet Janet Evans in the 1996 Olympic Opening Ceremony of Atlanta brings to mind my all-time favorite Olympic torch relay moment and torchbearer, not likely to be topped for this blogger as Ali's perseverance and ties to civil rights helped shape my POV on race over and over again.
What a breathtaking moment it was for billions on July 19, 1996 -- hardly a dry eye in the stadium.
A few months later, it was an honor to meet Ali briefly at his post-Games book and memorabilia signing events in the Buckhead Barnes & Noble, where the line of fans extended out the door and along Peachtree Street (only Hillary Clinton and Tom Wolfe drew similar crowds, but not nearly as many patient fans, as Ali did). The boxing legend stayed for extended overtime to be sure every single person in line got their moment.
The Oscar-winning documentary "When We Were Kings" -- which detailed the boxer's march toward the "Rumble in the Jungle" -- provided me the most thorough lessons in Ali's global influence. Who could forget Ali and George Foreman on stage at the Academy Awards? Even the most elite Hollywood royals appeared starstruck.
Also enjoyed a front row seat to witness Ali as the first torchbearer for the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Torch Relay when it started in downtown Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. It was not long after September 11, 2001, and Ali's appearance with Peggy Fleming was a bright spot in an otherwise dour autumn.
Somewhere in my photo archive, I have an image snapped of Ali and then-SLOC leader Mitt Romney moments after the flame embarked on its journey to Utah.
By his appearance in the Sochi Olympic opening ceremony, however, his decline seemed far worse -- at that event, I was dealing with my parents' failing health from 14,000 miles away, and for me Ali's weakened state foreshadowed my parents' passing as well as Ali's; I remember thinking and saying out loud, "This is the last time Ali will be at the Games."
But these 2012 and 2014 Olympic cameos illustrated Ali's lasting importance/relevance and Olympic icon status -- I think of Ali as "The Greatest" not only in Olympic and professional boxing, but perhaps the greatest champion and ambassador of The Olympic Movement since he won gold in 1960 as Cassius Clay.
It was very cool when the IOC replaced his lost medal at a ceremony in the Georgia Dome in 1996.
Ali's career and personality also shaped my love of sports photography and art.
And Bart Forbes, the Dallas-based fine artist whose first major assignment for Sports Illustrated featured Ali and Larry Holmes, wrote about his experience depicting the boxers in the book "The Sports Art of Bart Forbes."
My best friend Jason's dad, Philip, also painted Ali on a canvas I've pined for for 30+ years.
I also learned a lot about Ali via dozens of pages in Howard Cosell's autobiographies "Cosell" and "I Never Played The Game," in which Cosell described his later interactions with Ali during the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
It was really too bad Cosell did not live to see Ali in the Atlanta ceremony.
Though my introduction to Janet Evans earlier this year was a mixed bag behind-the-scenes at the Team USA Rio Media Summit, I admired Evans for her LA2024 statement about sharing the Olympic flame with Ali in 1996.
"Muhammad Ali was truly the greatest - an athlete who transcended sports to become a global icon.
"He inspired me, and millions of others around the world, to be the best version of ourselves. Passing the Olympic torch to Muhammad to light the cauldron at the Atlanta Games in 1996 was the defining moment of my career, and a memory I will treasure forever, as much as any of the medals I won.
"As Olympians, our role is to inspire others to achieve their dreams, and no person has ever lived that role more than Muhammad Ali. On behalf of all of us at LA 2024, we offer our deepest condolences to Muhammad's family and friends. He will be sorely missed, but his legacy will forever endure." -- Janet Evans, LA2024 vice chair and director of athlete relations.
Well said.
Images via Getty/International Olympic Committee, Esquire, ABC Sports, Bart Forbes, Neil Leifer, Andy Warhol
A public relations executive by day, small-time eBayer by night and weekends, lifetime member of the International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) and full-time Olympic enthusiast who also looks at "BoingBoing-style" unusual news with interest. Please e-mail me at olympiada@yahoo.com or if you can't get enough try my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/people/Nicholas_Wolaver/713593008
According to a video shared via the late singer's Facebook page, a teenage Houston saw the critically-panned Ali feature film "The Greatest" at a theatre in 1977, and she walked away feeling Ali was "the most marvelous man" she had ever seen.
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