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JUNE 11-25, 1981
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by Lester Rodney
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s they say in the trade,
A.
Louis got a pretty
good ride in the nation’s newspapers when he died. Since he had been seriously ailing for years, the “morgues” in the large dailies were ready with a story written in advance and periodically | updated. The coverage wasn’t bad. The tone was respectful. There were copious testimonials to Louis’ unfailing dignity. His awesome record was _ laid out in print fight by fight. There was a skeleton outline of his life— born into semi-slavery on an Alabama plantation, picking cotton as a kid — moving with determined mother in a Grapes-of-Wrath pilgrimage to - Detroit to find something better, a few years on the River Rouge assembly line, his unstoppable rise to the most publicized single title in sports-
dom: the world heavyweight | . ip sh champion Yet with all of journalism’s good writing and editing and galloping technology there was something missing. As in bland, overprocessed food, the heart of the matter wasn’t quite there. Those who grew up after the era of Joe Louis Continued on page 7