On 26 Feb 07 - 03:22 PM, GUEST,meself wrote, regarding Ernest Hemingway:

And Joe Louis, stopping his fist an inch from Papa's nose, advised him, "Stick to writing".

Funny, but I read a similar anecdote regarding Hemingway and Gene Tunney. According to this story, Hemingway and Tunney were sparring, and Hemingway did something (can't tell you what) that went against the "unwritten" understanding of the rules of the session. Tunney then feinted down Hemingway's guard and sent a punch "whistling" at his face, stopping just short. At this point, Tunney is reported to have said "Don't you ever do that again!"

I might have read this in Albert Payson Terhune's autobiography (Terhune, who wrote "Lad, a Dog" and similar dog stories, was apparently an accomplished amateur boxer), but I can't be sure. In any event, either Hemingway went around ticking off every major boxer of his time, or there's an urban legend afoot.

Don