Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 8/29/2007

8/29/1951:
Kid Gavilan of Cuba retains his world welterweight title with a controversial 15-round split decision over New Yorker Billy Graham at Madison Square Garden. A 3-1 betting favorite, Gavilan builds up an early lead on points to withstand a fast finish by the challenger. After the verdict is announced, Graham's ardent supporters unleash a shower of debris, and several of them try to enter the ring to further demonstrate their displeasure. Referee Mark Conn needs a cordon of New York's finest to escort him from the premises.

Birthdays:
Wyomia Tyus b. 1945
Bob Beamon b. 1946
Jerry Bailey b. 1957
Pierre Turgeon b. 1969
Roy Oswalt b. 1977

SPIRITUALITY

Accomplished memoirist Rosemary Mahoney had a complicated relationship with religion, despite her very traditional Irish-Catholic upbringing. So she embarked on a series of pilgrimages—both Christian and Hindu—to see what propelled the faithful onward. Go with her to Lourdes, Santiago de Compostela, and the Ganges River, among other places, where she explores faith in her trademark introspective, surprising style.

THE SINGULAR PILGRIM, by Rosemary Mahoney (Mariner Books, 2004)