The passing of three-time heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali has awakened memories in the minds of millions all across the world.

Yet few people know that a favorite part of Ali’s world was Deer Lake in Schuylkill County, where he often trained during the early-to-mid1970s.The conversationDoyle Dietz, the well-known former sports and outdoor writer for the Reading Eagle and Pottsville Republican newspapers, recalled his experiences with Ali.“You didn’t know who owned a Corvette or a Cadillac parked at Boyer’s IGA in Deer Lake in 1977,” Dietz said. “But when you saw a yellow Bentley convertible in the lot, you knew Muhammad Ali was back in town.”Dietz explained that Ali had a training complex of cabins built off Route 61 that included a gym, lodging for his entourage and sparring partners, and a mosque where he said his daily prayers.“I got connected with Ali from Bucko Kilroy, who after working for the Philadelphia Eagles became his business manager,” said Dietz. “I got a chance to see Ali spar at his camp. I was so close to the ring I had sweat on my lap from the opponent he was punching.“Ali was a celebrity for the celebrities. Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Sylvester Stallone each came up to Deer Lake to watch him train. And Ali was known by everyone. He told me he could walk into any village in Africa and they wouldn’t know who Babe Ruth or Willie Mays was, but they knew he was Muhammad Ali.”According to Dietz, when you met Ali, he was a far different person than the brash, loud mouth you saw on television.“He was just a regular guy,” said Dietz. “He would show up to watch a Little League Baseball game in Orwigsburg or Schuylkill Haven or he would go to see a movie in Pottsville. He was polite and sincere, too, and everyone around Deer Lake respected his space.”Dietz remembered a time he was with Ali when the Champ wanted to have an ice cream party. He took his Bentley to Boyer’s and bought buckets of every flavor they had.“Everyone got a spoon and a bowl and we ate ice cream with him,” said Dietz.Dietz’s last interview with the former Cassius Clay of Louisville, Kentucky, was in August of 1977 just before he defeated Ernie Shavers to retain his heavyweight title. What is still vivid in his mind was Ali’s five o’clock in the morning training runs up and down the streets of Deer Lake.“Muhammad’s Bentley was the pace car for his morning road work,” he said. “I had an old sheep dog back then and every time it heard the Bentley’s engine, the dog would run into the garage and bark. That’s when I knew Ali was running past my house.”Neff’s drive byLarry Neff of Andreas was driving in Molino when he saw Ali running where Route 895 meets Route 61.“I grabbed my camera, got out of the car, and started to take pictures,” Neff recalled. “Ali ran over to me, grabbed my camera and gave it to his trainer to take a picture of me with him. I asked for Ali’s autograph, but I couldn’t find any paper in my car so he signed a $20 bill and then ran off.“When I got to work, I showed the bill to my chief architect, who, little did I know, was doing job evaluations. He said if I had $20 to be signed for an autograph, I didn’t need a pay raise. The next day I showed him and my fellow workers my picture with Ali. They were all believers and I got the raise.”Gaining respectFormer Times News editor Bob Urban had a connection with Ali at Deer Lake through Kilroy, who arranged an interview and photo session. At the time, Urban was the editor of the Pottsville Mercury newspaper.“The interview lasted about 45 minutes and it took place in his locker room while he was dressed in his bath robe,” said Urban. “During our talk, Ali was watching a tape of his loss to Leon Spinks, who he would later defeat to regain his title. Ali was analyzing the tape saying things like, ‘I should not have ducked a punch there.’”“I could barely hear him speak during the interview, which was so unlike when he was in front of television cameras.”Ali asked Urban to bring his two sons to see the camp at Deer Lake and gave them T-shirts that read, “Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.”“We met his wife and he gave us a tour of the place including his cabin, which was sparsely decorated, but I remember it had a huge bed that looked like it was on steroids,” said Urban.Urban admitted that he held an initial disdain for Ali’s refusal to be drafted into the army, but then he began to understand Ali’s sincere religious convictions. Ali was suspended from boxing for three years during the prime of his life, missing out of potentially making millions of dollars. He said he was willing to go to jail rather than compromise his beliefs and join the army.“He grew on me,” said Urban “ I respected him for his religious beliefs.”A family of fansKay Gilbert, who worked for the Times News in different capacities in the late 1960s and early 1970s, reminisced about her mother’s love for Ali.“Mom followed him ever since he won the gold medal in the Olympics,” she said. “She rooted for him because he was the underdog in his early fights.”Gilbert, who has lived in Mahoning Valley for 50 years, said that Ali loved crumb cake and he would go to Bill’s Bakery in Normal Square to buy it.“In the late summer of 1978, Mom baked him a crumb cake and we took my two daughters with us to see Ali,” she said. “Unfortunately, he was in New York at the time, but we met Purcell Davis, his sparring partner.”While her daughter, Sara, who was four years old, was getting out of the car, the door closed on her fingers.“Sara didn’t cry, but Purcell did,” said Gilbert. “He felt so bad for her he gave us Ali’s personal phone number.”Ali invited the Gilberts to Deer Lake when he came back to train. They brought him crumb cake and gladiolas because he loved flowers.After Ali asked Sara if she was the one who hurt her hand, he took the flowers from her and lifted her up with his big hands.“I was so little and he was like a gentle giant.” remembered Sara, who now lives in Haddonfield, N.J. “The other day, when I told this story to a friend of mine, he said, ‘You were touched by greatness’ and I thought, that was pretty cool considering what a great athlete and influential man he became.”Rebecca Gilbert Schaeffer, Sara’s older sister, has followed Ali’s life ever since that day when she saw him peek out his cabin window as she knocked on his door.“He proved that anyone, rich, poor, famous or not, can be ‘The Greatest’ if they stay true to their beliefs,” said Rebecca.Kay Gilbert said her daughters admiration for Ali has lasted into adulthood.“When he lit the torch at the 1998 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, my daughters called and we were so happy for him,” said Kay.Final thoughtsIn his essay titled “Self Reliance” written in 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “To be great is to be misunderstood.”Emerson’s words aptly describe the persona and the perception of Muhammad Ali.“I didn’t have an interview with Ali, we had a conversation,” said Dietz. “How lucky and privileged I was to have met this man. When I think back, I realize that I would have rather spoken with Ali than any president because of his sincerity.”Urban, who owns a large framed picture of himself standing next to Ali, also came away from his meeting with the Champ extremely impressed.“The main thing I took away from having lunch with Ali was that he wasn’t the man you would think. He was very humble and articulate.”“He was a sweet and soft-spoken man,” said Kay Gilbert. “People didn’t see the real man. I saw the real Muhammad Ali.”The Champ’s training complex remains vacated and for sale these days.Long time residents of Deer Lake remember a lane there called Fighter’s Heaven, a line of 18 boulders with the names of the greatest fighters who ever lived. The boulders were pushed there and hand painted by Ali. Everyone thought there should have been a 19th boulder, but Ali chose not to include himself.Dietz, Urban and Gilbert all hope that someone will reopen Ali’s training camp as a museum to commemorate his life and his legacy.A Muhammad Ali museum would be a gift of greatness given from “The Greatest” to Deer Lake and to all of Northeast Pennsylvania.