A select few gathered outdoors to watch the new documentary “Muhammad Ali” at the former professional boxer and heavyweight champion’s Deer Lake Training Camp on Sunday, Sept. 19.
In the darkness of night, invitees watched an outdoor big screen as PBS aired the first night of the series.
Ali’s former personal aide and driver Harold Hazzard Sr. of Philadelphia was among the select few invited to watch the opening night of the new documentary series at Fighter’s Heaven, Muhammad Ali’s Deer Lake Training Camp near Orwigsburg.
“It’s beautiful,” said Hazzard about the new documentary.
Sitting near a large stone fireplace and pointing out what was Ali’s cabin, Hazzard said, “This place brings back a lot of memories, memories of me, memories of him, just thinking about Ali,” he said.
Hazzard started working with Ali in Philadelphia, driving Ali’s bus and cars.
“He was like a brother to me. He never treated me like an employer; he treated me like I was family,” he said. “It was just fantastic.”
Hazzard moved with Ali to New Jersey, then to Chicago and then when Ali bought a farm in Michigan.
“I was with him not just fight times, I was with him all of the time, making sure his clothes were together, make sure the cars are clean and drove them. When he was here (at the Deer Lake Camp), I was here. Wherever he was I was,” he said.
Ali enjoyed spending time alone in his cabin at the Deer Lake Camp while his wife stayed in the camp’s Chalet with their children, he said.
“He had a piece of mind when he’d come up here. All the wildness and TV shows, he’d come up here and he could just relax,” Hazzard said of Ali.
Ali built Fighter’s Heaven training camp while seeking a secluded place to train after attracting significant media attention when he returned to boxing in 1970. The camp included eight log cabins for his support personnel, a Mosque, a dining hall, and a gym where he trained away from the distractions and media of Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore and Washington, preparing for numerous fights, such as Rumble in the Jungle in 1974 and Thrilla in Manila in 1975.
After his retirement from the ring, Ali sold the camp to George Dillman in 1997. Following Ali’s death on June 3, 2016, Dillman reopened Fighter’s Heaven to the public, including the gym, kitchen and cabins. In July 2016, the camp was sold to current owner Mike Madden who continues to open the camp to the public for tours noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays and by appointment other days of the week.
Lynda Pollack Schiffert, originally of Deer Lake and now a resident of Orwigsburg, was among those in attendance for the documentary showing. Her father Bernie Pollack was a friend of Ali’s business manager Gene Kilroy, who introduced him to Ali. Bernie sold to Ali a secluded site of undeveloped land in an area called Sculps Hill on which Ali built his training camp in 1971.
“He became friends with Ali and as his daughter, the rest of the family followed suit,” said Schiffert. “It’s been a wonderful legacy for me. I’m proud to say that I knew Ali in his prime. It’s great to have had that as part of my (life). It was very interesting and exciting.”
Schiffert volunteers every weekend to give tours at the Deer Lake Training Camp’s gym.
“I enjoy that because I have a lot of interesting stories, things that I lived,” she said.
Regarding the new documentary, Schiffert said, “I do know and respect the name Ken Burns, as everyone does. He’s a true artist so I’m anxious to see it all.”
Documentary ‘Muhammad Ali’ airs on PBS
The new four-part documentary series, shown on PBS Sept. 19 to 22, explores the life of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. The new series, in development for six years, was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns and written and co-directed by Sarah Burns and David McMahon.
According to the release from PBS, “The film follows the life of one of the most consequential men of the 20th century, a three-time heavyweight boxing champion who captivated billions of fans with his combination of speed, agility and power in the ring, and his charm, wit and outspokenness outside of it. At the height of his fame, Ali challenged Americans’ racial prejudices, religious biases, and notions about what roles celebrities and athletes play in our society, and inspired people all over the world with his message of pride and self-affirmation.”
The series details the story of the athlete who called himself “the greatest of all time” and draws from archival footage and photographs, contemporary music and the insights and memories of eyewitnesses including family and friends, journalists, boxers and historians, among others.
“Muhammad Ali was the very best at what he did,” said Ken Burns in the release. “He was arguably America’s greatest athlete, and his unflinching insistence that he be unabashedly himself at all times made him a beacon for generations of people around the world seeking to express their own humanity.”
The release also notes that while Ali is largely celebrated today as an icon of American sport and culture, he was not always widely embraced.
“At times he was reviled by many in American society, especially white Americans and white members of the media, who rejected his faith and feared his involvement with the Nation of Islam. Ali also faced a firestorm of criticism when he said, “I ain’t got nothing against them Viet Cong” and refused induction into the United States Army, citing his religious beliefs – a stance that would result in five years of legal jeopardy and a three-and-a-half-year banishment from boxing,” states the release.
“Ali is rightly celebrated for his athleticism in the ring,” said Sarah Burns in the release, “but he was equally heroic in his willingness to stand up for what he believed was right.”
“Ali’s principled opposition to the Vietnam War and deeply affecting message of racial pride were remarkable then and equally so now,” said David McMahon in the release. “His actions and words speak to his character and also to his influence as an athlete who used his celebrity to speak out about injustices that he could not tolerate.”
“Muhammad Ali is a national icon whose life and legacy are woven into the fabric of American history,” said Sylvia Bugg, Chief Programming Executive and General Manager, General Audience Programming at PBS in the release. “PBS is committed to sharing stories that deepen understanding and reflect a diversity of perspectives, and we’re thrilled to bring this extraordinary biopic to our audiences this fall.”
Source: Berkshire mont