Not a lot of people know this but...

Would lvoe to hear about Dempsey

 

I think Hem was his hero. The macho-intellectual... Hem would have KO'd him around six had they ever got in the ring together...

 

Yeah, I reckon. Mailer was kinda like the literary Zelenoff. Although I prefer his books to Papa's.

 

Here's the Jack Dempsey story. One of my most treasured memories.

I was about six or seven. My dad took me to meet Dempsey at his restaurant in Manhattan. Jack, in a suit, was ramrod straight and strapping, graciously signing autographs close to the large picture window facing Broadway.

My dad brought me over to him. He bent down and challenged, "Put up your dukes!" Huge fists roiling in front of my eyes.

I jumped into a stance. He roared with laughter, scooped me up with one arm and ruffled my hair. Never forget that monument-of-a-face so close to mine.

 

Some great stories here John. That must be something you'll never forget

 

Yeah I've read these on a website somwhere before, some great stories!

 

Nice one John, obviously you were small so they would seem big, but did Dempsey really have big fists?? I've read before that people were surprised how small Jacks fists were and others compare them Mt Rushmore:huh

 

I happened to be at a bar in Inglewood Ca, when Chavez and his entourage came in and partied till about 4 AM.
JCC was doing more than liquor!
Later on I found out that the bar belongs/ed to somone related to Chavez and that he used to frequent it. I only saw him that one time there!

 

Mailer was quite a character, and his book, The Spooky Art, has guided me out of many a dark corner of my own. Thanks JG.

 

It's mine, RI. Glad you visited.

 

Gipsy Joe Harris injured his right eye when as a teenager him and a group of friends went out on Haloween night looking to steal candy from some youngsters. They came upon a group of small kids and ran up behind them and snatched their bags of candy and took off running down the street. While he was running away Gipsy heard one of the boys start to cry and at that moment he could not help but regret what he had just done and decided to walk back to where the boys were and give back the bag of candy to the boy he took it from.

Once he got close enough to them he was about to apologize for what he did but he startled the boys who had not heard him coming back and sure enough the boy who`s bag he stole picked up a brick and threw it at Joe hitting him near the right eye. They took of running and Joe hurried home where his mother instead of taking him to the hospital just bandaged up his head and put an ice pack to his eye. His vision never was the same again in his right eye and eventually he lost all sight in his right eye, thus the reason he would often lean way back to have a better look at his opponent.

 

he lives round the corner from me

 

This behind-the-scenes look, is just what I love to read, RB

 

****, that is a good story.

I think Mailer was as hillarious in his own way as he was a great writer. He got into some fights with other NY intellectuals now and then, but that can't be much of a challenge. I'm 6 feet, 165 lbs and I would fancy my chances against Gore Vidal, Woody Allen and Philip Roth at the same time.

 

Glad you enjoyed the little tidbit I shared JG, I`ve got a few more Gipsy Joe storys and I`ll share them with everyone later on or this weekend. Speaking of Gipsy Joe, did you ever see his bout against Curtis Cokes at the Garden? By all accounts he won the fight by a mile and made a fool out of a very competent fighter in Cokes. I know for a fact that the bout was televised but have never been able to track down a copy of it unfortunately.