CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Wil Haygood's new book titled "Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson," tells the story of the boxer's life, the dazzling times of his career before World War II and on through the Cold War without letup on Robinson's life, in and out of the ring.
He was more of a boxer, we know, than businessman, but business was among his interests along with talents or dancing, singing and entertaining.
"He was a hands-off businessman, taking joy in the hum inside his barbershop, lingerie shop and nightclub," Haygood writes. "The movement of so many bodies, the jangling noise from the cash register, convinced him business was good."
He had the help of his wife, Edna Mae, nonetheless, to make a good go of business before the marriage ended in divorce. The separation left Ray Robinson Jr. with the feeling all too common among children of celebrities that he lost a man in the house but not a father.
Haygood tells it like it is in this biography, as he did in two other previously successful biographies, one on Sammy Davis Jr. and the other on Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Like its predecessors, "Sweet Thunder" reflects the craft and story-telling ability of the writer with talent honed in news reporting.
Haygood started his daily journalism career with The Charleston Gazette. From here, he went to The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, on to The Boston Globe and finally to The Washington Post, where he now writes for the Style section.
"Sweet Thunder" says Sugar Ray Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. in Georgia in 1921. During his illustrious boxing career, he won 179 fights, lost 19 and was middleweight champion five times. He had grudging and classical bouts with such notables as Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano and Carmen Basilio.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Wil Haygood's new book titled "Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson," tells the story of the boxer's life, the dazzling times of his career before World War II and on through the Cold War without letup on Robinson's life, in and out of the ring.
He was more of a boxer, we know, than businessman, but business was among his interests along with talents or dancing, singing and entertaining.
"He was a hands-off businessman, taking joy in the hum inside his barbershop, lingerie shop and nightclub," Haygood writes. "The movement of so many bodies, the jangling noise from the cash register, convinced him business was good."
He had the help of his wife, Edna Mae, nonetheless, to make a good go of business before the marriage ended in divorce. The separation left Ray Robinson Jr. with the feeling all too common among children of celebrities that he lost a man in the house but not a father.
Haygood tells it like it is in this biography, as he did in two other previously successful biographies, one on Sammy Davis Jr. and the other on Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Like its predecessors, "Sweet Thunder" reflects the craft and story-telling ability of the writer with talent honed in news reporting.
Haygood started his daily journalism career with The Charleston Gazette. From here, he went to The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, on to The Boston Globe and finally to The Washington Post, where he now writes for the Style section.
"Sweet Thunder" says Sugar Ray Robinson was born Walker Smith Jr. in Georgia in 1921. During his illustrious boxing career, he won 179 fights, lost 19 and was middleweight champion five times. He had grudging and classical bouts with such notables as Jake LaMotta, Rocky Graziano and Carmen Basilio.
Haygood weaves stories into the narrative about many of Robinson's friends, including Lena Horne, French actress Martine Carol and African-American photographer Gordon Parks, who was instrumental in getting a Time magazine cover story on Robinson in 1951.
For all of his worldly fame, Robinson apparently never forgot that his boxing career owed its start to the boys' boxing team at Salem Methodist Episcopal Church in Harlem. His mother encouraged him to box as a protector of his sisters in the mean streets.
He organized the Sugar Ray Robinson Youth Foundation, among his charitable interests that reached abroad. International health foundations had hold on a piece of his mind and his purse as well.
Madame Aurial, France's first lady, thanked him at a public ceremony in the early 1950s for his contribution to the nation's cancer fund. He kissed her on the cheek of her smiling face. The photograph was flashed around most of the world.
Haygood notes that Robinson challenged military-based segregation during his service in World War II. Later, he supported the presidential bid of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
When Robert Kennedy was assassinated like his brother, President John F. Kennedy before him, Sugar Ray Robinson was doubtless heartbroken like millions of others at home and abroad. Robinson died in 1989.
His memory lives on in "Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson," publisher Knopf, 459 pp, illustrated, price $27.95. Available at West Virginia bookstores, including Taylor Books in Charleston.
Peeks is a retired business/labor editor of the Gazette.
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