Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation

Tom Cushman, one of boxing's great sportswriters, followed the ‘Ali generation’ of fighters from New York to Las Vegas, Nassau to Zaire, reporting for the Philadelphia Daily News from 1966-1982 and for the San Diego Tribune, 1982-1992. Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation chronicles the behind-the-scenes stories of the great athletes in boxing's biggest-and-best age—their victories and struggles, crimes and passions, heydays and swansongs.This collection of essays, gleaned from Cushman's personal files as well as his recent research, brings to light the backgrounds of the fighters, in and out of the ring: Liston's tragic death, Foreman's rise from hell to heaven, Holmes's crushing defeat and his great heart, Everett's murder—and everywhere, always, the unforgettable voice and charismatic volume of the astounding Muhammad Ali.Columnist Bill Conlin, Philadelphia Daily News, writes in the book's Preface: This [is] history of the rarest sort—the view of a man who not only had lived in the time and recorded the events, but now, a quarter of a century later, who was able to interpret both the athletic imprint left by these dynamic men and the sociological impact of their triumphs and tragedies.Besides the compelling stories of boxing's back stage, Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Heavyweight Generation includes previously unpublished photographs from the personal collections of Cushman and others, as well as classic images from veteran newspaper photographers.

Tom Cushman was born in St. Louis in 1934. He received his BA from Southeast Missouri State University and graduated from University of Missouri’s School of Journalism. For over 40 years, he worked as a reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph (1959-1966), as reporter and eventually staff columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News (1966-1982), as Sports Editor and columnist for the San Diego Tribune (1982-1992), and as Sports Editor and columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune (1992-2002). He is currently a freelance writer and frequent contributor to San Diego Magazine.In his years as a sportswriter, he has covered 10 Olympic Games, 25 World Series, 26 Super Bowls, 30 NCAA Final Fours, 21 Masters Golf Tournaments, 18 U.S. Open Golf Tournaments, and major professional boxing matches on four continents. He was the first writer outside New York City to receive the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism.Tom and his wife Lois live in Colorado and have a son, Scott, who teaches in Chicago.