About Having ‘The Greatest’ Neighbour
I have never been a great fan of boxing. But growing up in the 60s and 70s coincided with the peak years of one of the greatest sportsmen of the 20th century – Muhammad Ali. I used to love all his showmanship, trash talking of opponents and sheer brilliance in the ring.
To me and a few friends, Ali was “The Greatest”. As a primary school pupil I remember Cassius Clay – as he then was – beating Sonny Liston to become World Heavyweight Champion. After that we watched as many fights as we could, against the likes of Henry Cooper, Brian London, George Chuvalo, “Smokin” Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
In my opinion there has never been a boxer as captivating or charismatic as Ali. I’ve hardly paid any attention to the sport since he retired.
All these decades later I have started a new life in America, only to discover that my boyhood hero lives 20 minutes up the road from me. Sadly I’ll never meet him in the street; poor old Ali is a shambling wreck and has for years been the world’s highest-profile Parkinson’s disease sufferer. But it would have been cool to tell him “Muhammad, you were The Greatest”.
It made me wonder what other famous personalities live not too far from my new home. What well-known faces might I expect to see in and around Phoenix?
The city’s most visible celebrity figure is the “Godfather of Shock Rock” himself, Alice Cooper. The bad boy image is long gone. Instead of draping boa constrictors round his neck on stage, Cooper is a high-profile businessman with a successful restaurant, Alice Cooper’stown. He is also a major charity fundraiser, keen golfer and baseball fan.
Stevie Nicks, the Fleetwood Mac chanteuse, was born in Phoenix and lived here until two years ago when she sold her mansion for a tidy $3.3million. She still has family in Phoenix though and occasionally visits so I’ll keep my eyes peeled.
Others in the music world are Rob Halford, lead singer with Judas Priest; rock guitarist Nils Lofgren; and Bret Michaels of the band Poison. If you are of a certain age you might remember a duo called Sam and Dave who had a 60s hit with Soul Man. Sam is Samuel Moore and lives here with his wife.
The vast majority of these celebs live in the city of Scottsdale and the wealthy suburb of Paradise Valley. Think Newton Mearns, Bearsden and Morningside and you get the picture – the posh part of town.
Remember the man who couldn’t spell potato yet was a heartbeat from the US Presidency? Yes Dan Quayle, George Bush the elder’s Vice-President, is a local. Incidentally Quayle’s wife Marilyn Tucker is a successful novelist (and presumably can spell) whose maternal grandfather came from Maybole in Ayrshire.
Another major political figure of 20th century America was G Gordon Liddy, who spent more than four years in jail for his part in the Watergate conspiracy. His crimes don’t seem to have hurt his lifestyle; he now lives in a very large house in Scottsdale.
Other figures from the world of literature who call this place home include Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series of novels, Stephanie Meyer, who wrote the vampire series Twilight and the adventure novelist Clive Cussler.
From the world of TV and cinema I might be lucky enough to spot Emma Stone, who has moved to California but whose parents co-own an up-market golf resort in Phoenix; Frankie Muniz, star of the TV sitcom Malcolm in the Middle; or actor and comedian David Spade. In fact my wife once saw Spade and his mother in Costco not too long ago.
A few celebs left the area just before I got here, Dick Van Dyke, Mike Tyson, Glen Campbell and jazz musician George Benson among them. And if I take a trip to Tucson I might bump into the great singer Linda Ronstadt.
So if you are an old shock rock fan or hooked on the Outlander books then let me know – I might just be able to get you an autograph one day.