The recent death of Kris Kristofferson has pushed this letter to the front of the queue. Enormous thanks to Vincent for alerting me to it.
In 1977, Kris Kristofferson was flying high. In January, he won a Golden Globe for A Star Is Born, cementing his status as both a musical and cinematic star; months later, he met his personal hero, Muhammad Ali, a boxing legend he had admired since his own days as a keen amateur boxer at Oxford. The meeting left him so inspired that he felt compelled to write a rare fan letter to Ali, whose grace under pressure and larger-than-life presence had always captivated him. A bond quickly formed, and in 1979 the pair even shared the screen in Freedom Road, a collaboration that further solidified a friendship that would endure until Ali’s death in 2016.
28 Sept
Well, Muhammad,
I honest-to-God can’t remember the last time I wrote somebody a letter; especially a fan letter. But after meeting you today there was no way I couldn’t (write, that is). So here goes.
First off, I’ve gotta tell you that the first thing I ever wanted to be was a boxer: subscribed to Ring Magazine, saving every copy since 1947 and — at one time — knowing every ranked fighter’s weight-record & place in the top ten. Rocky Graziano was my first hero — which tells you something about my mental make-up. Then it was Ray Robinson, Marcel Cerdan, Joe Louis, Gus Lesnevich, etc., Beau Jack, Ike Williams, Willie Pep & Sandy Saddler. When I became aware of you, brother, I was looking at a figment of my imagination. Starting with your first Liston fight (which I had to listen to at 4:00 in the a.m. in a snow-covered Volkswagen in Germany) — the odds were so incredible I made out like a bandit — you were perfect, and I knew why the man was beat. It was like watching a young, flashier Sugar Ray, only 21 and growing.
I ain’t always understood you in the years since, but I’ve always admired and respected you as much as any man I know. And I’m just feeling so damn good now because you showed me how familiarity can breed respect. I’m not unfamiliar with pressure, but as my boys and I were saying, what a piece of cake it (ours) is, compared to yours. And the grace with which you pull it off is such an “upper.” Your treatment of me and mine was pure class, and you’re either a better actor than Marlon Brando or you’re one of the most genuine and unaffected human beings walking this planet. How you’ve done it under the sport-lit love/hate attention that’s focused on you is really a miracle, and it shows what a special dude you are. You’re the last hero we’ve got, man, and I know I don’t have to point that out to you.
Well, boss, you can handle it. Old William Blake said (a couple of hundred years ago, I think1) “If he who is organized by the divine for spiritual communion refuse, and bury his talent in the earth, even though he should want natural bread, sorrow and desperation shall pursue him throughout life, and after death, shame and confusion of face to eternity.” Something like that, anyway. The way I see it, you are one artist who understands and lives by that code. The same poet (Blake) had Christ asking Ezekiel why he took so much shit and lived so miserably, and he (Ezekiel) said, “The desire to raise man’s perception to the infinite.” Which is what you’re doing. You’re teaching people — all of ‘em — that a man can be as big as he can imagine himself. God bless you for that. And for hanging on to the things that are important.
I doubt if I’d read any damned letter this long, but I can’t see that it matters. I had to say what a special human being you’ve turned out to be, and you need to hear that about as much as you need to hear what a great fighter you are.
I also had to ask you about the right hand & the calcium deposits, because I’ve been worrying about that sucker since I watched the second Norton fight. I had a similar problem when I was fighting amateur, and I was convinced that that was why you weren’t knocking them out (I think you used it a couple of times in the last round to win the Norton fight, and almost took him out, but it must have hurt all the way up to your shoulder.) Anyway, nobody ever said anything about it, so the best news I got heard was when — prior to the Foreman fight — you said you were so frustrated by the delay (his cut) that you took it out on the heavy bags, and found to your surprise that you could do some damage. Well, I felt better, anyway. Man, that fast right is magic — that so-called “secret” right that put Liston down in Miami was a perfectly timed shot that could’ve K.O.’d a bull.
Anyway, I thought at my age I was past being impressed, but you really knocked my hat in the creek. If there’s ever any way I can help you out (sparring partner, guitar picker, movie co-star, campaign manager, whatever) give me a call and I’ll be there. I can’t thank of a lot of ways I could do you much good, but sometimes you need bodies for benefits & such, and we do those. My old lady’s a good singer. And my brother-in-law (Booker T. Jones of Booker T. & the MG’s) is a genius. So, give us a call in California if you’re ever so inclined. Until then — or whenever — the best to you and yours, and I’m really proud to have met you.
Yours,
Kris Kristofferson
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Kristofferson was paraphrasing from a letter by William Blake, written to his patron Thomas Butts in 1802. You can read that letter here.
Thanks.
I’ll be carrying this letter forward into my day.
I especially appreciate:
“I ain’t always understood you in the years since, but I’ve always admired and respected you as much as any man I know”
How refreshing to hear that we can admire and respect even when we do not fully understand.
Recognizing a full human being in your lifetime is like experiencing grace. Both these men.