NEW YORK (Apr. 20, 2015) – Author Rich Blake will be tomorrow night’s (Tuesday, April 21) special Ring 8 guest speaker at O’Neill’s Restaurant, located at 64-21 53rd Drive in Maspeth, New York.
Blake is a veteran New York City-based author who has written, Slats: The Legend & Life of Jimmy Slattery, to be released next month by publisher No Frills Buffalo. Blake is best known for covering the financial world for numerous publications, including Institutional Investor, ABCNews.com and Reuters HedgeWorld. He was a co-founder and executive editor of Trader Monthly magazine. The 46-year-old Buffalo native is the author of two non-fiction books, The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up and Talking Proud: Rediscovering the Magical Season of the 1980 Buffalo Bills. He also is co-author of a third work of non-fiction, Diary of a Hedge Fund Manager.
Slattery personified the Golden Era of sports during the boom/bust 1920s and ’30s.
The sleek, handsome, lightning-fast Slattery was a phantom in the ring, soaring across the national stage like a comet before crashing into oblivion. Discarded by the ages, Blake’s book is the incredible true story of the Irish boy-wonder who captivated the boxing world at its peak.
At Ring 8’s monthly meeting tomorrow evening, Blake will recount his research into Slattery’s early burst to fame in the metropolitan area during the spring of 1924, sharing some highlights of what he uncovered like tying in Queens fight promoter Simon “Si” Flaherty, the Queensboro A.C. in Long Island City and the Queensboro Bowl, which was expanded in the spring of 1924 as part of efforts by Flaherty and Paddy Mullins to land a Jack Dempsey-Harry Wills fight that, unfortunately, never came materialized. Blake will also speak about how the New York City fire department condemned the club’s stadium built at the base of the Queensboro Bridge and how Flaherty managed to get around that.
ABOUT RING 8: Ring 8 became the eighth subsidiary of what was then known as the National Veteran Boxers Association – hence, RING 8 – and today the organization’s motto still remains: Boxers Helping Boxers.
RING 8 is fully committed to supporting less fortunate people in the boxing community who may require assistance in terms of paying rent, medical expenses, or whatever justifiable need.
Go on line to www.Ring8ny.com for more information about RING 8, the largest group of its kind in the United States with more than 350 members. Annual membership dues is only $30.00 and each member is entitled to a buffet dinner at RING 8 monthly meetings, excluding July and August. All active boxers, amateur and professional, with a current boxing license or book are entitled to a complimentary RING 8 yearly membership. Guests of Ring 8 members are welcome at a cost of only $7.00 per person.
