Tim Shanahan Talks Friendship With Muhammad Ali
Tim Shanahan, author of "Running with the Champ," joined the Scott Garceau Show with Jeremy Conn to talk about his personal relationship with Muhammad Ali. Ali passed away on Friday at the age of 74.
In 1976 Shanahan worked with a charity in Chicago that had athletes speak to underprivileged kids. He contacted Ali, who was living in Chicago at the time, and asked him if he would participate in the program. Ali accepted and invited Shanahan to his home to talk for several hours. This was the start of a forty-year friendship.
Shanahan said something that most people did not know about Ali was that he had a pure heart. "He loves all people. All races, all colors, all religions and he always wants to help as many as people as he can with his fame."
He talked about how Ali dealt with Parkinson's disease in the later stages of his life saying, "He [dealt] with it with dignity. He told me, 'white boy, in 1986, the UCLA doctors told me that I had Parkinson's and had 10 years to live and now it's 2006, twenty years later. I'm still in the fight, and I shocked the world again'."
Shanahan shared the story of when he was over Ali's house one day and Michael Jackson came over. Ali asked Jackson to sing his favorite song, "I'll Be There." Jackson went over to the piano and performed the first two verses for him.
Listen to the full interview with Tim Shanahan here and don't forget to follow Scott & Jeremy on Twitter: @ScottGShow1057 and @JeremyConn1057.