Cushman, Southeast sound bell on boxing book

Tom Cushman covered boxing for 40 years and is considered a top authority on the sport, but he never dreamed of writing a book about the so-called sweet science.

When Cushman finally did just that, he never envisioned it being published.

But an opportunity presented itself with the publishing wing of his alma mater and hometown college.

That led Cushman back to Cape Girardeau, where on Tuesday he signed a book contract with the Southeast Missouri State University Press.

Cushman's book — "Muhammad Ali and the Greatest Generation" — will be published in the fall of 2009. It will be sold through distributors and at Barnes & Noble, Southeast Bookstore, amazon.com and on Southeast's Web site.

"I'm very happy about this," Cushman said following the signing at Southeast's Wehking Alumni Center.

Cushman was born in St. Louis, but grew up in Cape Girardeau. He graduated from Central High School in 1952 and from Southeast in 1956.

While at Southeast, Cushman served as editor of the campus newspaper — the Capaha Arrow — and also worked several summers as a reporter for the Southeast Missourian.

After attending the University of Missouri School of Journalism, Cushman went on to a long and distinguished career as a sports writer, sports columnist and sports editor, including lengthy stints at the Philadelphia Daily News and San Diego Tribune.

Cushman received numerous awards for his writing, including twice being nominated for Pulitzer Prizes. He covered countless major events during his career — including 10 Olympic Games, 25 World Series, 26 Super Bowls and 30 NCAA Final Fours — but boxing particularly caught his fancy.

Cushman said his book began as a series of individual written reviews recalling his experiences with several notable heavyweights — including Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Larry Holmes — during his 40 years of covering boxing.

After retiring from the newspaper business in 2002, Cushman said he began sorting through the files and put together some of the material and observations that were among his most compelling and memorable.

Cushman said he originally began the project intending to keep it as a personal record for his family, but some of Cushman's friends and former colleagues encouraged him to publish the stories.

"It never started out to be a book," said Cushman, who now lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., and still does freelance writing. "And I never started with the idea of it being published. I really haven't pushed the thing at all."

But Cushman said: "I saw in the [Southeast] alumni magazine that they had a publishing arm now."

Cushman said he was curious and e-mailed former Southeast classmate Jane Stacy, who was working for the university. He said Stacy encouraged him to send his material to Dr. Susan Swartwout, publisher and editor of the University Press.

Swartwout was interested in the book, and Cushman seems elated he looked into getting his book published.

"I thought if they were interested ... it would be neat," he said. "I went to school here."