4. Parkinson’s disease has taught him new ways to communicate
“The art of the gesture is quite important to him,” Miller says of Ali, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 1984 at the age of 42. “He communicates with his hands and fingers, his facial features, his eyes.
“He surprises visitors by making a sound with his thumb and index finger that’s not unlike a cricket in your ear. He blows on the top of heads, tickles the inside of palms when he shakes hands, teasing almost everyone who visits him.
“Though he can walk, Ali is often seen sitting in a wheelchair or positioned in an easy chair. He is no longer the world’s most vocal and irrepressibly animated person.”
5. He’s an amateur magician
“Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee, his hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.”
Famous for his pre-fight proto rap rhymes, Ali had some other dazzling tricks. “Until recently, throughout his years with Parkinson’s disease, Ali surprised visitors by performing prestidigitations (sleight of hand tricks),” Miller says.
“He made a red silk scarf disappear from his hand, he bit coins in half and made them whole again, and he often performed an old parlor trick — by putting his feet together and rising up on the toes of one foot while keeping his other foot flexed, he could appear to float above the ground.”
