People close to the fight game gave us the benefit of their decades of experience. Jerry Izenberg and Robert Lipsyte were there—sitting at ringside; talking to Sonny Liston, Malcolm X, and Muhammad Ali; writing the first drafts of history. Tom Hauser may not have been there, but he knows everyone who was and graciously shared his considerable knowledge of Muhammad Ali and boxing. Several academic friends read all or parts of early drafts. Aram Goudsouzian commented insightfully on an early version, and David Welky and Eric Hall read parts. They all contributed to the final book.
Our thanks also go out to those who aided us during our research: Casey Harden at the Muhammad Ali Center, George Rugg at the University of Notre Dame Special Collections, Carrie Hintz at the Columbia University Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Heather Stone at the Filson Historical Society in Louisville; and librarians and researchers at the National Archives, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the University of Oregon Special Collections, the Library of Congress Manuscript Division, and our home base, the Library of Congress Newspaper Reading Room. Amber Paranick at the Library of Congress has been helping us for years, and we appreciate her tireless aid. We are also grateful for the research assistants who helped us track down key sources. Thanks to Kyle Larson, Shandi Sigler, Cy Hill, and Ansel Beacham.
Our home institutions have facilitated our work. At Purdue University, history department head Doug Hurt set an example of commitment to scholarship and did his best to support Randy Roberts’s work. The School of Liberal Arts at Purdue supported his research with a Humanistic Fellowship Center grant. At Georgia Tech, the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts and the School of History and Sociology provided research and travel aid to Johnny Smith. He is especially thankful for the unwavering support from John Tone, Steve Usselman, and Jacqueline Royster.