I was saddened to hear of Muhammad Ali’s passing on June 3. I recall with vivid memories welcoming the boxing legend to the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, California, where I worked at the time as Director of Public Relations, and where the international celebrity stayed during his April 1999 visit to Silicon Valley. Muhammad Ali, who was accompanied by his wife, Lonnie, and good friend Howard Bingham, a photographer with Sports Illustrated, was in town to participate in Apple Inc.’s “Think Different” ad campaign.
The wide responsibilities of my PR job encompassed the duty of a manager of protocol or “looking after” the famous guests. When I found out that Mr. Ali was coming to the hotel, I was very excited because of my father, who was an amateur boxer and a huge boxing fan. He used to attend many boxing matches in his and my native Lithuanian Republic of the then Soviet Union, and I remember him watching a lot of boxing broadcasts on television and quite often taking me along to the boxing matches.
Lina wearing boxing gloves autographed by Ali. Courtesy of Bruce Barton
