Clockwise from far left: Manute Bol playing for the Washington Bullets in 1985; speaking at the Philadelphia stop of the 300-mile Sudan Freedom Walk in 2006; posing with “Celebrity Boxing” opponent William Perry in 2002.


scrapping with beefy opponents who tried to push him around had given him a general idea of what to do. He stood off and poked long lefts at Perry, oc- casionally throwing a right with some force, catching him with a couple of shots to the head. The crowd grew restless because it


wasn’t seeing the flailing that makes in- competent fighters fun to watch, and the referee warned both men that neither would get paid unless they fought hard- er. Bol, who had agreed to appear on the show only if the name and address of one of his Sudan-aiding charities appeared on the screen, threw a few more punches and took an easy victory by decision. Perry’s feeble blows had not touched


He managed to make shooting a basketball look absurd, and yet he himself never seemed ridiculous.


Bell” beat up the guy who played Hor- shack on “Welcome Back, Kotter.” The gloves were oversize and the rounds barely longer than a minute; the whole enterprise stank of reduced circum- stances, of humiliation. Bol was matched with William “The


Refrigerator” Perry, a defensive lineman who won the 1986 Super Bowl with the Chicago Bears. Perry had entirely gone to pot since retiring from football: At 6-2


and well over 400 pounds, with pendu- lous folds hanging from his vast torso, he was out of breath within seconds after the bell rang. The aura of good-natured Herculean potency that had once sur- rounded him was long gone. Bol, by contrast, had never been in-


vested with the conventional athlete’s aura, so he hadn’t lost it. He looked just as tall and thin as ever. He had an odd fighting stance, but his long history of


Bol, and, somehow, neither had the aw- fulness of the show. Just by carrying himself as he always had, holding some part of himself aloof from the lucrative childishness and triviality around him, he had managed to pass through “Celebrity Boxing” without humiliation. Another problem solved by standing tall.


Carlo Rotella is a contributor to the Magazine. He is the Director of American Studies at Boston College and can be reached at wpmagazine@ washpost.com.


PAGES 18, 19: PHOTOGRAPH OF BRENDAN LOONEY IN UNIFORM BY THE U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY / ASSOCIATED PRESS; LOONEY AND TRAVIS MANION PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE TRAVIS MANION FOUNDATION; ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEX BRANDON / ASSOCIATED PRESS; PAGES 20, 21: UNDATED PORTRAIT OF RONALD WALTERS BY GEDIYON KIFLE; SIT-IN PHOTOGRAPH, ORIGINALLY IN THE ENLIGHTENER, FROM THE KANSAS AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM IN WICHITA; OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY OF THE WALTERS FAMILY; PAGE 22: PHOTOGRAPH OF MICHELLE ARÈNE COURTESY OF THE ARÈNE FAMILY; PAGE 24: PHOTOGRAPH OF JAY YOUNGQUIST COURTESY OF KATHRYN YOUNGQUIST; PAGE 26: PHOTOGRAPHS OF NATASHA PETTIGREW COURTESY OF KENNISS HENRY; PAGES 30, 31: PHOTOGRAPHS OF JOAN SHIH CARDUCCI COURTESY OF THE CARDUCCI FAMILY; PAGES 32, 33: PHOTOGRAPH OF MANUTE BOL AS A BULLET BY DICK RAPHAEL / NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES; PHILADELPHIA PHOTOGRAPH BY MATT ROURKE / ASSOCIATED PRESS; BOXING PHOTOGRAPH BY RON GALELLA / WIREIMAGE


December 26, 2010 | The WaShingTon PoST Magazine 33


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156