Wow Sylvia! What many people dont know is that I was Champs young protege at the age of 21 and many of the pictures he did for the Sports Parade when it converted from a 4-page paper to an 8-page paper were by yours truly Bill King! I became a professional Photogapher for Champ and covered all of the local sporting events. I got my initial training from Porter the renowned photographer who was also an assignment photogrpher for Jet Magazine! I was surrounded by the very best! I miss Champ a great deal for he was my adopted God Father. We formed the Cobra Boxing Club in New Orleans which was a club for young Black amateurs and professionals. I Became at that time the youngest boxing manager in the State of Louisiana. The Cobra Boxing Club became renown as one of the best in the Sate of Louisiana! At one point Champ, me and one other individual were in the top running to promote the famous Muhammad Ali/Leon Spinks fight in the Louisiana Superdome. But of course politics had its way (another story). We also together formed The National Black Sports Foundation where Walter payton was one of our first guests at our annual sports banquet when he was a senior at Jackson State in Mississippi. Champ was responsible for keeping Walter in the Press eyesight as a college player which helped him to get noticed by the NFL pros and drafted very high. Also Champ and I were two of the three founding members of Business Resources Group (BRG - Black, Red & Green symbolizing the Black colors of unity). BRG was a consulting group and one of our highlights was as the managing team contracted to operate Major Lanes, the last Black Bowing Lanes in the City of New Orleans. Also Champ was one of the first two Blacks to become an Assistant Vice President & later promoted to Senior Vice President of The First National Bank of Commerce which was one of the largest banks in the southern region of the United States at one time. That is where I first met him when I was 21 years old. I also worked FNBC. A great man Champ Peter W. Clark was! I miss him for he helped propell me to humbleness and greatness. One of his favorite sayings was If you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything! Yes, with pride I do remember The Sports Parade!
Posted on: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 21:40:48 +0000
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