Brush with Greatness

David Letterman used to run a segment called “Brush with Greatness.”  Dave would interview members of the studio audience, who would recount a chance meeting with some celebrity.  Getting interviewed about it on national TV by David Letterman was probably a bigger deal for those folks than the original celebrity encounter.

My own connections to celebrities are limited.  I don’t normally approach a celebrity, much less chat them up.  I’ve met some through book signings and meet and greets.  I know some celebrity-adjacent people, who are friends with or relatives of someone famous.  I’ve known some people through work or school who later became prominent in their fields, but they probably wouldn’t count as honest to goodness celebrities.  One celebrity encounter from many years ago stands out as the most memorable.  That was the night Muhammad Ali spoke to my karate class.

It was the early 1970s, after the first Frazier fight but before Ali shocked the world by defeating George Foreman.  The Frazier fight was a tough match.  After the fight Ali’s face looked a little puffy.  Frazier’s face looked like it went through a meat grinder.  Ali referred to himself as “The People’s Champion” and the author Budd Schulberg described him as “Loser and Still Champion.”  The effects of Parkinson’s Syndrome had not yet robbed him of his famous gift of gab.  While his braggadocio still turned some people off, he had become less controversial in other ways.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor on his refusal to be drafted during the Vietnam War.  America’s involvement in that war was also winding down.  Few still called him Cassius Clay.

My karate class wasn’t exactly the dojo of the stars.  My mom sold real estate and had a coworker named Ralph, who also had a black belt.  He ran karate classes out of the second floor of a local fire station.  Ralph wasn’t exactly a marketing genius either.  The classes were good for getting in shape and learning the fundamentals but didn’t offer much in the way of cool moves or progress in belts above white.  (I later went to a karate studio that did both.)  I suppose he could market it today as old school, gimmick-free karate.  The trouble is that 12-year-olds (the target demographic) love gimmicks.  The karate class was not much more than a side gig for Ralph.

One of the assistant instructors for the class was Harold, a green belt.  While Ralph could be a bit gruff, Harold was more affable.  One distinct memory I had was that my karate uniform, or Gi, was too big on me.  Harold suggested we wash it in hot water, with lots of bleach, to get it to shrink.  Harold not only knew Muhammad Ali but knew him well enough to get one of the most famous people in the world to visit an obscure karate class.

We carpooled to the karate classes with the sons of another of my mom’s coworkers.  Their dad would take us there and my dad would pick us up.  We learned about Ali’s scheduled appearance just a few days earlier.  We were all excited on the ride over that night.  One of the boys did an impression of Howard Cosell introducing Ali Cosell didn’t accompany Ali on the visit, but Ali didn’t come alone.  Ali’s wife was also there with their young daughters.  Also there was Major Coxson, a shady character who was running for Mayor of Camden, NJ.  (He lost.)  Coxson was a short, nattily attired guy.

The karate class started as usual with warm-up exercises and drills.  At some point, Ali walked into the studio, which we greeted with both excitement and relief.  You never know for sure whether the guest of honor is going to show.  Ali spoke to the class for about a half hour.  Ali was a tall, handsome, fit man who wore a suit.  He was funny and charming during his talk.  I remember him joking about how much Harold begged him to visit the class.  Ali also teased Major Coxson about his height.  (Ali was 6’3.”)  He mentioned plans to soon move from South Jersey to Chicago, where his wife had family.

Ali left soon after the talk.  He gave a few autographs on his way out but didn’t hang around.  I didn’t know it at the time, but Ralph had placed an ad in the local newspaper publicizing the upcoming visit, noting that a karate class would be offered and requesting a donation of $1.  I’m not sure whether there was much follow up afterward.  Hard to fathom today, but I don’t think anyone took pictures.

Major Coxson met a bad end.  In June of the following year, he was murdered at his home.  The killers also shot his girlfriend and her son and daughter (the daughter died of her wounds).  Another son escaped to a neighbor’s home.  The murders remain unsolved.  Author Sean Patrick Griffin, among others, have speculated that Coxson was killed due to his failure to broker a heroin deal between the New York Mafia and the Philadelphia Black Mafia.

Muhammad Ali followed through on his intention to move to Chicago and put his South Jersey home up for sale the following year.  This was before the days of Realtor.com or Zillow, but as a real estate agent my mom had access to the Multiple Listing Service.  She was able to get a copy of the listing of Ali’s house, which I still have.  The house was listed for $250,000, or about $1.7 million in today’s dollars.  The house is currently listed for $1.85 million following a significant renovation.

If access to the MLS was a perk for working in real estate, you also had to deal with your share of cranks and nuisances.  Coxson’s house went up for sale shortly after the murder and my mom got a call from someone asking to see the house.  She was a little concerned and asked a co-worker to accompany her.  It turned out the guy was harmless but not a serious buyer either.  He was more a morbid curiosity seeker.  The house apparently creeped out a lot of potential buyers and it has not retained its value well.  The house sold for only $375,000 in 2020.  It does look like quite the relic of 1970s gangster chic.

You shouldn’t infer too much about a celebrity based on a brief encounter.  There were, however, two things about that night 50 years ago that are consistent with what we also know about Muhammad Ali.  Agreeing to speak to a smalltime karate class showed his generosity to his friends and his willingness to engage his fans.  His relationship with Major Coxson showed that he wasn’t always selective in his choice of friends.

Have a memorable celebrity encounter?  Please feel free to share in the comments.