June 28, 2008
Brad Grey
Ashley Hildebrandt
Kevin Sheridan
Re: “NIGHT TRAIN”
Dear Sirs and Madam:
Thank all of you for your kind words concerning my grandmother Geraldine Liston. I want to inform you that I have spoken with Mr. Muhammed Ali, and he and I would like to help in any way we can in the making or promotion of the movie “NIGHT TRAIN.” Mr. Ali has been a close and dear friend of our family for almost fifty years. Sonny Liston and Mr. Ali were best friends since their first fight together. Mr. Ali has also had to live with the lie that he somehow had something to do with the rumor that Sonny Liston took “a dive” in their second fight together. The so-called “Phantom Punch.”
The Sonny Liston Estate and the Muhammad Ali Office will be working together as we always do, to celebrate the anniversary of the first and second Ali/Liston Fights. It would be fitting if the movie “Night Train” could coincide with the anniversary of one of these two events. We can work on any financing that may be necessary to activate the release and production of this film.
RING MAGAZINE will also be presenting the family with a replica of the championship belt that Sonny received after the Floyd Patterson fight. My grandmother had to sell the original championship belt to survive. I would also love it if “NIGHT TRAIN” could be dedicated to Geraldine Liston without, whose help, this script and project would not have been possible.
Sincerely,
Lynel Gardner
Ballentine Production
The Estate of Sonny Liston