He lived less than thirty miles from where the South held slave auctions, yet decades before the Emancipation Proclamation, he freed the slaves on his plantation. He spent his life working to abolish slavery - and in fact did more to bring about the end of slavery than anyone besides Lincoln. He was Cassius Marcellus Clay, the man for whom Muhammad Ali was named. And now Richard Kiel is telling his story.
Kiel, best known for his role as the James Bond villain "Jaws," has co-authored The True Story of Cassius Clay: Kentucky Lion (ISBN 0-9794948-1-8, Morrison McNae Publishing Group, http://www.claybook.com/) with Pamela Wallace, winner of an Academy Award for co-writing the 1985 film Witness. The book was a labor of love for Kiel, who spent 25 years researching Clay. To honor Clay's legacy, Kiel will donate half his royalties to a scholarship fund that will allow qualified but financially disadvantaged students, black or white, to attend Berea College, the university Clay helped establish.
The reality of Clay the abolitionist clashes sharply with Ali's contention that he was named after a plantation owner who raped a slave. On the contrary, Clay was against slavery - and the mistreatment of slaves - from an early age. After witnessing injustice to his best friends, both slaves, the teenaged Clay vowed that one day all slaves would be free. He worked tirelessly toward that goal, eventually as a Kentucky state representative. The personal cost was high: Clay lost his marriage and friends. He was the target of assassination plots. And, in an attempt by wealthy slave owners to silence Clay, his young son was murdered.
In spite of his trials, Clay succeeded in advancing his cause. Just 4% of Southerners actually owned slaves. The other 96%, forced to compete against slave labor, largely lived in poverty. They supported Clay and his views and, at his urging, successfully lobbied their representatives to put a moratorium on slavery in Kentucky. Clay later ran for president against his friend Abraham Lincoln before throwing his considerable financial support behind his opponent. Clay then became U.S. Ambassador to Russia and negotiated the purchase of Alaska.
"Reading Kentucky Lion will cause people to think differently about the South, its people, and how slavery affected everyone," Kiel stated. "Cassius Clay is a forgotten hero, and I am pleased to tell his story in a way that will capture readers' attention and imaginations."
Full of romance, intrigue and action, Kentucky Lion is a true story presented as a historical novel.
