In the spring of 1979 a buddy of mine took me to Connecticutt over our spring break (we were teachers in Kansas) where he grew up. On the way back, in our rented Pinto, my buddy said, "Would you like to see where Ali trains?" I replied, "Yeah, sure." but never imagined what lay ahead. We turned off of the highway and headed for Beaver Fall, Pa.

As we approached the town, off to our left there was this heavily wooded area with a long narrow drive to a group of cabins. We were really there, but, after a short tour it was announced that Ali was taking a nap and would not be out this afternoon. We were crushed; many people left and then we caught a glimpse of an entourage escorting the champ to a cabin.

They invited the remaining fans to accompany him and watch him do some magic tricks. After several tricks and many photos in a dream-like trance we floated out of there not really believing that we touched and came into contact with greatness. Ali was my favorite growing up in the 60's and then, a dream came true when we actually met Ali. He was charasmatic, and extremely humorous as he traded jibes with us common-folk.

To this day, a picture of me, my buddy and Muhammad Ali hangs in my office and I continue to tell the story. I am still attempting to locate his address to send him one of the enlarged photos for his autograph. I would never sell it for a profit, because it is priceless to me.