Welcome to a particularly somber Good Morning, News. Muhammad Ali—one of the greatest and most important Americans of all time—passed away last night. Every parent in this country should teach their children about Ali's life.
There's some other news you should catch up: An oil train derailed and caught on Fire in Mosier, Oregon. The U.S. Forest Service identified Portland's top spots for multiple heavy-metal exposure.
But, really, there is no bigger news than Muhammad Ali passing away. I honestly believe every American child should receive on their 10th birthday a copy of King of the World: Muhammad Ali and the Rise of an American Hero by David Remnick.
The New York Times, has a very strong, very thorough obituary of Ali, and included this short documentary on the man:
Sports Illustrated: "Muhammad Ali—boxer, activist and provocateur—dead at 74":
It must be said, first of all, that Ali was, just as he used to boast, the Greatest of All Time (which in later years became the typically playful acronym — GOAT — that branded his projects). He won the heavyweight title three times, in an era of ungodly competition. Neither Joe Louis nor Rocky Marciano faced so many dangerous fighters still in their primes. Ali’s trilogy with Joe Frazier provided enough drama in the first bout alone to be deemed mythic. Then there was the fight with George Foreman, when Ali, many thought, was being sent to his doom but instead invented an almost comical escape, the rope-a-dope. Not to mention bouts with Sonny Liston, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, killers all. In his heyday, at least, Ali fought not for survival but for his own entertainment. He presented his ring art as a kind of jazz, fully improvisational, performed to the whimsical score in his head.
Deadspin compiled the "Best Writing About The Greatest," and you should make sure to bookmark it. They've highlighted and linked to "The Challenger and The Muslims" by Dick Shapp, "The Champ and the Chump" by Murray Kempton, "Great Men Die Twice" by Mark Kram, "Muhammad Ali in Excelsis" by Peter Richmond, "The Invention of Muhammad Ali" by David Remnick, and a whole bunch more.
Star-Ledger columnist Jerry Izenberg wrote this great piece: "Why they called him 'The Greatest' and why I called him my friend."
Rolling Stone has a good reflection of Ali's life, a list of his "10 greatest pop culture moments," a list of some of his more memorable quotes, and Hunter S. Thompson's great 1978 RS profile "Muhammad Ali: Last Tango in Vegas."
ESPN: "Ali was simply 'The Greatest'"
Ali fought for more than two decades, but the world inside the ropes was never really large enough for the man in full. By chapters, Ali's life became so large and brassy, so charged with daring and devilment, so touched by his charm, his existential madness and the play of his mind, that prizefighting served as mere entertainment in the ever-expanding narrative that was his life. He not only was a showman endowed with a high order of charisma and commanding physical gifts, but he also owned a personality that flattered nearly all who met him.
Man, he was the greatest.