BoxRec

Hiya Gents,

Somehow or other, a few months ago, I got terribly caught up in the life and times of Frankie Campbell. I actually put Max Baer on the back burner and delved into every primary source news article I could get my hands on, as well as conducting interviews with members of Frankie's family, and picking the brain of a near and dear to my heart California boxing historian.

The result is a mere 18,500 words at the following link on my site:

http://www.maxbaer.org/frankie.html

Its been a helluva journey and I hope you enjoy the effort...when you have a spare couple hours to read it all!!

Regards,
Cat
http://www.maxbaer.org

Hi Gal,

What a story on frankie Campbell, I appreciate all the hard work you did on the story.

Frank

kikibalt wrote:Hi Gal,

What a story on frankie Campbell, I appreciate all the hard work you did on the story.

Frank

Hey Frank !

I didn't know you were on this forum ! How's tricks, Mister ?

Thanks ! I appreciate hearing that from you, the other Master Boxing Dude of California !!

I got a nice word back from Hap after I had him look it over earlier today. He had eye surgery but "brailed his way through" the page and really liked it ! Phew !

Hugs,
Cat

That was absolutely fantastic! Very personal and filled with emotion. Great great stuff. I'm going to save that. Great reference and even a greater literary work. A historical classic. Thank you. Who says there aren't fantastic historians on this Forum?

dagosd2000 wrote:That was absolutely fantastic! Very personal and filled with emotion. Great great stuff. I'm going to save that. Great reference and even a greater literary work. A historical classic. Thank you. Who says there aren't fantastic historians on this Forum?

Wow, thanks Dagos !! I'm humbled by your kind words !

Regards,
Cat
http://www.maxbaer.org

An excellent read on a man who unfortunatelty is remembered best as a victim in the ring, and not for what he might have become or was; a mere foot note in history...it gives a great perspective on Frankie Cambell as not only a fighter, but as a human being...what would top this excellent read off, is if screen shots of the court files and even of the exhibition that raised money for Mrs Cambell's children after the fact, could be posted as well...I couldnt put it down...another great post from Maxie's Gal, in my opinion THE foremost woman expert in this forums history thus far.

Great read. It's a tragedy the way he died. No wonder Baer's personality seemed to change after this fight from a "killer" to a clown, although in several fights (Schmeling for example) the 'killer' re-emerged.

HomicideHenry wrote:An excellent read on a man who unfortunatelty is remembered best as a victim in the ring, and not for what he might have become or was; a mere foot note in history...it gives a great perspective on Frankie Cambell as not only a fighter, but as a human being...what would top this excellent read off, is if screen shots of the court files and even of the exhibition that raised money for Mrs Cambell's children after the fact, could be posted as well...I couldnt put it down...another great post from Maxie's Gal, in my opinion THE foremost woman expert in this forums history thus far.

Hey yooooou, howzit ??

I actually went through several hoops with the city and county of San Francisco to obtain the grand jury and coroner's files, as well as Frankie's estate papers. The response back on all accounts was, "well we're pretty sure we have them, but due to budget cuts, we can't find them where they're supposed to be." It was suggested I wait a few years and try again. I was so frustrated I was tempted to drive up and persuade them to let me slog through their basement.

As to photos, I'll just have to wait until somebody locates them in their attics and sells them on the open market. There was one cryptic sentence in all of the stuff I waded through that suggested motion pictures of the bout were taken. Good gawd could you imagine actually watching that ?

One correction in your post. There was only ONE child, Frankie Jr. and he died at age 22. Max Baer Jr. has issued various statements to the effect that his Father put "Frankie's children" through school but its incorrect. I confirmed Frankie Jr. attended West Point, not Notre Dame. I confirmed neither Max Baer or Jack Dempsey contributed to Frankie Jr.s tuition while at West Point.

Thanks for the nice words, I'm glad you enjoyed it !!

Regards,
Cat

dempseyfire wrote:Great read. It's a tragedy the way he died. No wonder Baer's personality seemed to change after this fight from a "killer" to a clown, although in several fights (Schmeling for example) the 'killer' re-emerged.

Thanks Jack =)

I have a copy of "Ring of Fire: The Emile Griffith Story" and the parallels between Baer-Campbell and Griffith-Paret is amazing. Watching that documentary I think allowed me to get into Baer's head after Campbell in a way no newspaper article could.

I agree the killer emerged in some of Baer's post-Campbell fights, but even in those, I've read how he consistently backed off from delivering the killer blow when he could have. What a mind-eff it must have been to box with the fear in your head all the time.

Regards,
Cat

Maxie's Gal wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:That was absolutely fantastic! Very personal and filled with emotion. Great great stuff. I'm going to save that. Great reference and even a greater literary work. A historical classic. Thank you. Who says there aren't fantastic historians on this Forum?

Wow, thanks Dagos !! I'm humbled by your kind words !

Regards,
Cat
http://www.maxbaer.org

Maxie's Gal,I was very moved by your straight forward sincerity. Often sports writers and historians want to bring the focus on themselves. They are pretentious and a turn off. Unless they have a knack for a particular style,they should try to be natural and unassuming. I don't want to name the names of these guys.We know who's over the top.

Your description of Campbell's family and the Bay area were on the mark.I've known athletes and people who've grown up and lived in that area and you captured it. Charming,distinctive,and regional. Nostalgic and flavorfull. Keep writing.

dagosd2000 wrote:Maxie's Gal,I was very moved by your straight forward sincerity. Often sports writers and historians want to bring the focus on themselves. They are pretentious and a turn off. Unless they have a knack for a particular style,they should try to be natural and unassuming. I don't want to name the names of these guys.We know who's over the top.

Your description of Campbell's family and the Bay area were on the mark.I've known athletes and people who've grown up and lived in that area and you captured it. Charming,distinctive,and regional. Nostalgic and flavorfull. Keep writing.

I get pretty emotionally involved with "my guys." Just because they boxed doesn't mean they all were cavemen without feelings and insecurities. I suppose its a girlie thing. But I try to get into their heads, and realize they don't live in a bubble, so I have to relate their actions to what's happening to the people who's lives they effect, the places they pass through and historically what's going on at a specific time frame.

I don't have a decades or even years long knowledge of boxing, so I try not to impose my opinions, but let the flavor and the words of the times come through to speak for themselves. I envy the style and prose of the sports writers of the 20s and 30s. I get such a kick out of what they wrote that I want to include it in my work because its so often dead on perfect.

I'm lucky, Max and Frankie grew up in the SF Bay Area and I have too, so that's one thing, geographically I can write about knowledgeably. I'm native Californian to the core. We're a dying breed but we have rich memories of how it used to be. The people and the land really didn't change here until about 1980, so there's plenty to remember.

Anyways, thank you once again for your words. As a writer, I can't stop writing, but it doesn't mean I don't have a bit of an insecurity complex about how it will be accepted. Your words just validate what I'm doing and encourage me to keep at it.

Regards,
Cat

What a gift! Thank you!

Maxie's Gal wrote:

dagosd2000 wrote:Maxie's Gal,I was very moved by your straight forward sincerity. Often sports writers and historians want to bring the focus on themselves. They are pretentious and a turn off. Unless they have a knack for a particular style,they should try to be natural and unassuming. I don't want to name the names of these guys.We know who's over the top.

Your description of Campbell's family and the Bay area were on the mark.I've known athletes and people who've grown up and lived in that area and you captured it. Charming,distinctive,and regional. Nostalgic and flavorfull. Keep writing.

I get pretty emotionally involved with "my guys." Just because they boxed doesn't mean they all were cavemen without feelings and insecurities. I suppose its a girlie thing. But I try to get into their heads, and realize they don't live in a bubble, so I have to relate their actions to what's happening to the people who's lives they effect, the places they pass through and historically what's going on at a specific time frame.

I don't have a decades or even years long knowledge of boxing, so I try not to impose my opinions, but let the flavor and the words of the times come through to speak for themselves. I envy the style and prose of the sports writers of the 20s and 30s. I get such a kick out of what they wrote that I want to include it in my work because its so often dead on perfect.

I'm lucky, Max and Frankie grew up in the SF Bay Area and I have too, so that's one thing, geographically I can write about knowledgeably. I'm native Californian to the core. We're a dying breed but we have rich memories of how it used to be. The people and the land really didn't change here until about 1980, so there's plenty to remember.

Anyways, thank you once again for your words. As a writer, I can't stop writing, but it doesn't mean I don't have a bit of an insecurity complex about how it will be accepted. Your words just validate what I'm doing and encourage me to keep at it.

Regards,
Cat

Fantastic stuff.
I really enjoyed that.
You stated that you dont have years of boxing knowledge.
That doesnt matter.
You are a boxing person now.
Welcome aboard.

A very nice read Gal. It's threads like this that make the BOTP worth visiting. Thanks so much for your contributions.

And I have to admit that I did not know that Cambell was Dolph Camilli's brother.

BoxBuzz wrote:What a gift! Thank you!

Awwwwww ... thanks Buzz !!

Expug wrote: Fantastic stuff.
I really enjoyed that.
You stated that you dont have years of boxing knowledge.
That doesnt matter.
You are a boxing person now.
Welcome aboard.

You're a sweetheart, thanks Pug ... are you really an Ex-Pug ?

The Great John L wrote:A very nice read Gal. It's threads like this that make the BOTP worth visiting. Thanks so much for your contributions.

And I have to admit that I did not know that Cambell was Dolph Camilli's brother.

I appreciate the kind words, thanks John L.

I interviewed Dolph's daughter for the project and she says to this day as soon as people know she's was "THE Dolph Camilli's daughter" they go on and on about how much they loved her Dad. Dolph lived until he was 90 and was skiing and building stuff until his last breath. An amazing gent, I just wish Frankie had lived as long ...

Maxie's Gal wrote:

Expug wrote: Fantastic stuff.
I really enjoyed that.
You stated that you dont have years of boxing knowledge.
That doesnt matter.
You are a boxing person now.
Welcome aboard.

You're a sweetheart, thanks Pug ... are you really an Ex-Pug ?

Thank You.
Yes Ma'm
just a prelim guy.
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer

Thank You.
Yes Ma'm
just a prelim guy.
http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer[/quote]

WOW !!!! How exciting was that to get KOs for your first two fights !! Why did you stop, you looked like you were going along good !?

That is so cool !
Cat

Bump....

I wonder what happened to the Max Baer website, and particularly Maxie's Gal. She was a very good source for the 1930s heavyweight scene.

Gee it's been ages ... I'm now working on a full length book about our boy ...