Little Known Boxing Autobiographies

[Caractacus]

about Henry Armstrong's 1956 autobiography GLOVES,GLORY and GOD.
He was after all a Baptist minister (since 1949)
that may be why he was speaking in the third person in the book
and probably didn't use a co-writer either.
also most likely the book was geared for younger readers in mind
in order to reach readers with a positive message.
from 6 to 18 years which were the ages of the members of the Herbert Hoover By's Club in St. Louis
were he was assistant director.
he also traveled around to give lectures to schools about Crime prevention up into the late 1970's at least.

[dagosd2000]

about Henry Armstrong's 1956 autobiography GLOVES,GLORY and GOD.
He was after all a Baptist minister (since 1949)
that may be why he was speaking in the third person in the book
and probably didn't use a co-writer either.
also most likely the book was geared for younger readers in mind
in order to reach readers with a positive message.
from 6 to 18 years which were the ages of the members of the Herbert Hoover By's Club in St. Louis
were he was assistant director.
he also traveled around to give lectures to schools about Crime prevention up into the late 1970's at least.

Read the book.In the foreward he states that he wrote the book for the "Negro people."Your assumption that "the book was geared for younger readers" is wrong.Read the foreward and he tells you who it was intended for,"Negroes" -all of them including adults.

"Among those millions of people are my own Negro people.And somehow I find that I am writing especially for them.In a very deep sense my victories in the ring were not my own merely;they were the victories for the brown battler,a Negro...and that other Negroes could feel a kind of satisfaction and pride because of him."

Then he wraps up his intentions.

"Finally,there is a most intimate circle for whom this is written:My closet friends ,regardless of race,my family and myself."

Then in the last sentence of the foreward:"May I thank,at the outset the two who have helped me much:my good friends Eric Heath and Frank S. Mead."

I'd like to know why he thanks them.He doesn't say.


He doesn't mention anything about crime prevention.What are you talking about when you say he "was after all a Baptist minister" and that may have been the reason he wrote the book in the 3rd person and didn't use a co writer?Back that up.It doesn't make sense.You use words like "may be why" and "probably" and "most likely".You're guessing about something you never read.You're flying by the seat of you pants and you just wet them.

[Caractacus]

Dude, you're crtizing me ?
you'r the one who said that the book 'wasn't much of a read"
u saying "his people" didn't read too much ?
Well Henry Armstrong was very concerned about his own people especially when he was ordained in 1949,
especially the ones between 6 and 18 years old.
whom I'm convinced was his target audience.
He was assistant director of the Youth Club in St. Louis.
Because he once had been that age of course.
BTW Archie Moore was concernd about youth too.
His ABC Club in San Diego was for youths 8 to 15
(because his theory was after 15 it was too hard if not almost impossible to influence them in a positive manner)
and anyway I seem to remember that George Foreman use to sometimes refer to himself in Third person
and he too became an ordained minister in 1978.

[Caractacus]

The STORY OF JEM MACE by Jem Mace (re-printed 1989)
The FIGHTING FISHERMAN by Yvonne Durelle (1981)

[Caractacus]

BTW
Eric Heath was a writer and had helped Henry Armstrong in co-authoring it
and Frank S. Mead was editor in Chief of the Fleming H. Revelle Publishing company that published the book

[dagosd2000]

Dude, you're crtizing me ?
you'r the one who said that the book 'wasn't much of a read"
u saying "his people" didn't read too much ?
Well Henry Armstrong was very concerned about his own people especially when he was ordained in 1949,
especially the ones between 6 and 18 years old.
whom I'm convinced was his target audience.
He was assistant director of the Youth Club in St. Louis.
Because he once had been that age of course.
BTW Archie Moore was concernd about youth too.
His ABC Club in San Diego was for youths 8 to 15
(because his theory was after 15 it was too hard if not almost impossible to influence them in a positive manner)
and anyway I seem to remember that George Foreman use to sometimes refer to himself in Third person
and he too became an ordained minister in 1978.

I read your reply earlier this morning and let it slide,but now I've seen you've changed it and see that you're upset.Yeah I'm criticizing you.Go ahead and have the last word on this then I'll put you on my pay no mind list. Where did I say" his people" didn't read much?You're making stuff up again.You never read the book but you know all about it.Yeah,it's a bad read and that's why it's out of print.You don't have to tell me about Archie Moore.I volunteered at his ABC club for a summer and got to know him.So what if George Foreman referred to himself in the 3rd person.What does that have to do with Armstrong's book?.

I've read some of your posts(9900 in three years) and I can see you want to jump in on everything and have the last word.Well,go ahead and have the last word with me. As far as I'm cocerned you don't exist.

[Bladder]

Gloves,Glory,and God(The Second Time Around)

It's a horrible book about a great fighter.

Henry Armstrong.He deserves better in print.

Yes, I think you have summed this book up perfectly. I couldn't agree more.

[Caractacus]

Hey man,
I took the time to find out who Eric Heath and Frank S. Mead where to Henry Armstrong for you didn't I ?
so that mystery is over.
But I do have to admit ,I've never read the book, (Gloves, Glory and God) although i've heard about it for years and I was thinking of getting one a few years ago back when they were still relatively in-expensive.
There's just one copy left on E-Bay though .
I will probably buy it next Wednesday.

https://ebay.com/itm/Henry-Armstrong=Us ... 979906347/

BTW I've only just recently purchased
THE ARCHIE MOORE STORY (published in 1960)
( but it hasn't arrived in the mail yet, so I can't review it here)
I've heard about that one for at least 30 years too. but been procrastinating on buying that one too
( even though I have the biography THE AGELESS WARRIOR by Mike Fitzgerald
( Archie Moore co-operated with him on that one too).

[Caractacus]

BTW Henry Armstrong was the validictorian of his HS class (Vashon HS in St. Louis)
also the poet Laureate and reportedly wrote for the school newspaper.
so he probably had requested to the editor that he write most of the book himself.

[Caractacus]

the great Middleweight Mickey Walker published his autobiography in 1960.
anyone here read it ?

[Caractacus]

BTW I've only just recently purchased
THE ARCHIE MOORE STORY (published in 1960)
( but it hasn't arrived in the mail yet, so I can't review it here)
I've heard about that one for at least 30 years too. but been procrastinating on buying that one too
( even though I have the biography THE AGELESS WARRIOR by Mike Fitzgerald
( Archie Moore co-operated with him on that one too).

I read that book a couple of years ago and it is great !
maybe part of the reason was because it was co-written by John Condon ( author of THE MANCHURAIN CANADATE !)
a must read !
https://wardproject.org

[delisa]

Ted Lowrey
Buddy Baer

[Caractacus]

"The Impossible Dream", the 1976 autobiography of Canadian two-time World Colored Heavyweight champion and British Empire titleholder Larry Gains is a good read, if you can find it. The foreword was written by Max Schmeling, who was KO'd by Gains in 1925. Gains also had a points win over Primo Carnera in 1932.

is it how he writes or the subject matter that is so good ?.
it was published in 1976.
I was thinking of getting a copy of that book some time ago, but was unable to find a copy for less then 50 dollars.
All the copies for sale seem to have been autographed.

[Caractacus]

has anyone here seen Tony "TNT" Tuckers autobiography ?
It was published in 2016.

[Caractacus]

the great Middleweight Mickey Walker published his autobiography in 1960.
anyone here read it ?

I got a copy the other week, and it is good, published in 1961
(when Mickey Walker was 60 yrs old)
I bought my copy on EBAY for only 7 dollars, and was surprised how good in condition it was.
Someone must have bought it for Christmas or their Birthday present , and looks like it had been
sitting on a shelf untouched for over 60 years. (the dust jacket was crisp and the smell
of the paper when I cracked the book open, unbelievable.)
I would highly recommed you get a copy of this book (although yours may not be so pristine,
but it is a great read ! (now I only wish that I had got a copy 25 years ago, when they were showing up on Ebay.

[Caractacus]

Man, was the "AI" used for this review flawed tho. It is like half accurate and half all f*cked up.
(count the obvious flaws in the AI narrative.)