What are your thoughts on the life and death of Muhammad Ali?

[madchives]

One of the towering figures of the 20th century is dead. Muhammad Ali's fierce independence and poetic soul made him impossible to overlook ... and he changed the world. What are your thoughts and memories? Join guest host Duncan McCue, Sunday, live across Canada at 1 p.m. PT, 2 p.m. MT, 3 p.m. CT, 4 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. AT, 5:30 p.m. NT.

link to listen online:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup

i'm not a true boxing fan, but ali of course was so much more than,,, i still remember the hush that happened when people saw it might be him about to light the flame in atlanta, followed by the sadness in everyone's heart on how much the darn parkinson's had taken from him.

saw an interesting clip on the national, of ali reciting one of his poems about joe frazier, not able to find on youtube so, it starts around 18:30:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/thenational

[Brad]

I don't see how he was a towering figure of the 20th century. I had heard the name before and knew he had something to do with boxing but I had to google him to see what exactly he did. Maybe he was just before my time?

[anisa]

Loved the speech the Rabbi gave at his funeral. A truth speaker. Peace.

[anisa]

Brad, If he was before your time, then yes you might only know a teeny bit about him, or only know his name.

However, if he was in fact before your time, and his name has stuck in your mind, I think that says something about his reputation. Boxing is not a highly glamourized sport, it's participants are not usually household names (unless they are on infomercials).

I am a child of the 70's, and even I was not fully aware of the extent of the impact this man's actions had on the morale and psyche of Americans and others around the world.