SC, that's awesome!

Actor Barry Pearl (my mom's distant cousin who played Doody in the film Grease; and speaking of signatures, I have a pic that both he and Rickles have signed ;)) posted this on FB: "I was walking up 8th Ave. in NYC, circa 1962, about to pass the old Madison Square Garden and I see this guy looking up at the marquee as they're putting his name up...Cassius Clay. I stop and shake his hand. Mine felt like a pea in his.

"Fade out, fade in, I'm at NBC in 1976 doing CPO SHARKEY with Don Rickles. Our studio is directly across from Carson's TONIGHT SHOW. Our shows shared the makeup area so we'd get to meet all the celebs that he'd have on as guests. This one time, Ali was a guest. Got to meet him again and tell him about meeting him in '62 on 8th Ave. in front of the old Garden at the beginning of his rise."

As for me, Ali was always an icon since childhood. It was sad to hear about the Parkinson's, and seeing him suffer for years. RIP, Champ!