A Compassionate Man:Lee Brody
1926 – 1997
A story of the late Lee Brody’s participation in athletes ran in a past issue of JDCC News #25 Nov/Dec 96. There is another story to his participation and which is why it is being run in this issue.
Boxing was an athletic activity that Lee wasn’t proud of. In fact he had it suppressed in his memory, as it was just a small and an unpleasant portion of his very productive and very successful life.
When he was interviewed for the past JDCC News story he specifically requested that the part on boxing be left out. In fact Lee was upset when a brief mention of boxing was mentioned in a national publication about 15 years ago. He wrangled a promise out of this writer never to mention boxing again in any of the future stories written about him.
Just before the JDCC story was printed the first time, a compromise resulted in an agreement between Lee and the writer to just make a brief mention of boxing without any further elaboration.
Lee was tight lipped when the subject of boxing was brought up. He finally relented when the writer pressed for details. After Lee gave his story, the writer understood the reason for not elaborating and didn’t.
Lee, a great man, has departed us with a huge imprint on the deaf community. And boxing is the reason why he became a much stronger and much more compassionate individual.
A much younger Lee was a promising boxer that took part in the New York/New Jersey Golden Gloves competition one year in the early forties. So great was his potential that he disposed all of his opponents enroute to the semi finals.
In the semi finals Lee faced a formidable opponent. If Lee won, he would advance to the finals that would take place at the legendary Madison Square Garden (the one on 50th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan).
Normally Golden Gloves boxing is strictly regulated. The rounds are shorter. Headgear and mouthpiece are required. The referees are instructed to stop the fight the moment the boxers get battered. It doesn’t matter if the boxer is still on his feet, if he is buckling and staggering, the fight is stopped. This is the reason for the low rate of fatalities in Golden Gloves boxing.
Pro and amateur boxing are two completely different worlds. Pro boxing is corrupt. Amateur boxing is cleanly run with no undue influences underfoot. Many respectable Americans were former Golden Gloves boxers. Boxing is compulsory in the service academies (West Point, Annapolis, Air Force). President Theodore Roosevelt liked to box.
Anyway, back to Lee. In the semi finals, he gained the upperhand and threw several vicious blows that staggered the opponent. The fight was stopped and victory awarded Lee. His joy was short lived as the opponent collapsed in the ring and had to be taken to the hospital in a stretcher.
Fortunately the opponent recovered after an overnight observation. But the specter of sending someone to the hospital was unnerving to Lee.
As a result, he lost the championship fight at the Madison Square Garden. His heart wasn’t in it. He so bothered by the semi finals victory that sent an opponent to the hospital that he just couldn’t concentrate in the finals.
Never again would Lee put on his boxing gloves. But it made him a much stronger person, ever so sensitive to the needs of the deaf and also of the deaf-blind, and was forever devoting his time, energy, money and resources to making lives easier for the deaf.
Boxing alone did not make Lee a great person, but it was one of the reinforcements that made him the person he was.
Please forgive me, Lee, for spilling the details but I wanted the world to know exactly what made you tick.
Thank you very much, Lee!
