Evan’s and Natham A Special Bond
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Jaime Harris – Part 3
I cherish the countless hours of oral history Evans imparted to me; my favorites his personal experiences — his affection for Joe Namath and the other New York Jets, and the raucously fun plane and bus rides they would have in a bygone era when players trusted reporters to keep their indiscretions secret. Reporters would abide by the honor code— Howie as senior editor, and Bryant Gumbel as managing editor, side by side, running Black Sport Magazine in the early ’70s.
Evans’ profound relationships with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jim Brown, comrades in the Black power and empowerment movements. Being monitored by federal agencies for his civil rights and social justice activism.
His contentious battles with sportswriter Peter Vecsey as opposing coaches at the Pro Rucker. Recalling his many conversations with the great Holcombe Rucker in Rucker’s kitchen. Hanging out with Wilt Chamberlain at the Big Dipper’s sprawling California house, one of the most mythological bachelor pads in the annals of celebrity cribs.
The authoritative certainty with which he would assert that playground legend Joe Hammond, whom he spoke of like a son, was one of the greatest to ever live in a classic “what could have been” tale. Attending Negro Leagues games at Yankee Stadium with my grandfather and witnessing the remarkable Satchel Paige in his prime work his magic on the mound.
He reminded me a time or two about how when I was a little kid, running around Wagner Center in East Harlem — where he was the director — with my siblings and cousins. He pointed out a troubled kid from the neighborhood several years older with lightning hands and feet like a ballet dancer, whom he predicted would someday be a world boxing champion. And damn if Hector Macho Camacho didn’t become just that.
But nothing in Evans’ life surpassed his joy in the achievements of his kids, those of us who are family and the innumerable he claimed as his own. His twin daughters Renee and Collete traveling the world. His son Joe forging his own career. My older brother, David Harris, and older sister, Juanne Harris, earning undergraduate college degrees from Harvard and Dartmouth, respectively. Me covering sports with him around the country. His players, students, writers, and interns. He celebrated us more than his own massive attainments.
That was the essence of the imperfectly perfect man who had just one non-negotiable demand: that we pay it forward.
We gotcha, Unc! Rest in Power!
Editor’s Note: Mr. Jaime Harris is currently the Sports Editor of the New York Amsterdam News. Mr. Harris is also the nephew of Mr. Howie Evans.
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