Welcome to Page 7 of I Read That Book! On each Page, I’ll tell you a little about a book I read, often in a fun and informal manner, with the hope that you also may become interested enough to read it – or perhaps read it again if you’ve already enjoyed it once. The books I’ll be featuring come from a variety of genres at differing stages of my life, so whether you prefer history, literature, science fiction, or horror, there’s a good chance you’ll get some interesting ideas for your personal “To Be Read” list. Thank you for joining me on this journey as we flip through the pages of some of my favorite books. But before you start reading below, I invite you to grab a cup of your favorite beverage (coffee for me!) and find a comfortable place to sit, then turn to Page 7.
DEMPSEY by Jack Dempsey, with Barbara Piattelli Dempsey
Publication Date: 1977
While growing up in the 1970s, I often watched boxing matches on television, usually on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and occasionally there would be a big fight on during the evening. My mother would sometimes tell me about her father watching Friday Night Fights and said he would have enjoyed the experience with me by his side (unfortunately, I was just five when he passed away).
I was a casual fan, but when the 1976 Olympics came around, my viewing started growing a little more serious, and I became hooked on The Ring magazine, along with other boxing publications. And over the next several decades, I found myself absolutely in love with the sweet science.
Which leads to the book I’ve chosen for Page 7 (yes, I’m finally getting there). I made it a point to learn the history of the sport, and for a while I could name successive champions in several different weight classes. But I took it a step further and started reading about individual fighters when I could find books about them. DEMPSEY, by Jack Dempsey, with Barbara Piattelli Dempsey, was one of the earliest I read.
Many years have passed since I read this book (which is told from the first-person viewpoint of the great heavyweight champion), so I don’t remember the details. What I do recall is how much I enjoyed learning Jack’s story, along with the many pictures in the book. Several years following its publication, a TV movie came out based on it, aptly titled Dempsey, starring Treat Williams.
As the heavyweight champion of the world, Jack Dempsey was a huge celebrity, attracting all kinds of fans. Here’s an interesting example from the book of one of his supporters:
Chicago’s Al Capone, to whom I was still The Hero, let the word out that he had enough dough and influence spread around to make sure I would win. Not wanting Scarface to do anything I might regret, I sent him a short handwritten note asking him to lay off and let the fight go on in true sportsmanship. If I beat Tunney, or Tunney beat me, it would only prove who really deserved to be champion. I didn’t hear a word in reply, but the next day Estelle received what must have been two hundred dollars’ worth of flowers, with a card signed simply, “To the Dempseys, in the name of sportsmanship.”
If you are a lover of boxing and desire to know more of the history of the pugilists, the sport, and the times they lived through, you can’t go wrong with DEMPSEY.
Eventually, when life got a lot more complicated than I ever thought it would, I quit following boxing. But something about the sport has pulled me back, and I’ve been enjoying it again over the last few years.
And don’t forget to join us here again when I flip to the next Page!
Note: The first 32 pages of I Read This Book! originally appeared on Substack.
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