Thursday, August 28, 2008

Hero worship at the DTC Hyatt

Wow! I just met Roosevelt Grier in the lobby of the Hyatt Place Hotel. He's walking with a cane these days and is a bit more gray, but it's him all right. A great man. Marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., active in the Civil Rights struggles from the 1960s onward. And a pretty good football player, too.

Here's some background on "Rosey" Grier from Wikipedia:

As a professional football player, Grier was a member of the original Fearsome Foursome of the Los Angeles Rams and played in the Pro Bowl twice.

After Grier's professional sports career he worked as a bodyguard for Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign and was guarding the senator's wife during the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. Although unable to prevent that killing, Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan.

Grier's other activities have been colorful and varied. He hosted his own Los Angeles television show and made approximately 70 guest appearances on various shows during the 1960s and 1970s. Grier is known for his serious pursuit of nontraditional hobbies such as macrame and needlepoint. He has authored several books, including Rosey Grier's Needlepoint for Men in 1973. Grier became an ordained Christian minister in 1983 and travels as an inspirational speaker. He founded American Neighborhood Enterprises, a nonprofit organization that serves inner city youth.

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