It was a summer of racial tension - the year after Watts and the year before white police officers beat up a black cab driver, sparking the Newark Rebellion of 1967. Whites thought "Bobby" was the next President; blacks thought "Martin" was their champion. No one could have predicted in two years they would both be dead - killed by assassins' bullets.

It was 1966. "Hippies" were flocking to California; "The Hurricane" was a contender for the World Middleweight Title. At the time, no one would have believed that a group of white hippies and a black boxing genius had anything in common. But 20 years of fighting a losing battle inside an unfamiliar ring makes even the strongest person ask for help. And when a man needs help, sometimes it comes from the most unlikely people and places.

Author: Carole D. Bos, J.D.