On Easter weekend 1988, then struggling writer and movie store clerk Davis Miller drove to Muhammad Ali's mother's modest house in Louisville, knocked on the front door, and waited for an answer. It had been over two decades since he d first glimpsed The Champ on a black-and-white television when Miller was an eleven-year-old boy, shattered by the unexpected loss of his mother and he felt the time had come for him to personally thank the man whose fearlessness, grace, and tenacity gave him the power to overcome a near-paralyzing depression. When the door finally opened, Miller would not...

In 1988, then struggling writer and video store worker Davis Miller drove to Muhammad Ali s mother s modest Louisville house, knocked on the door, and introduced himself to his childhood idol. Now, all these years later, the two friends have an uncommon bond, the sort that can be fashioned only in serendipitous ways and fortified through shared experiences. Miller draws from his remarkable moments with The Champ to give us a beautifully written portrait of a great man physically devastated but spiritually young playing mischievous tricks on unsuspecting guests, performing sleight of hand...