Lonnie Ali
WHEN YOLANDA “Lonnie”
Ali married the most famous
athlete in the world in 1986,
she didn’t know much about
the degenerative neurologi-
cal condition that was just
beginning to seize the body
of then 44-year-old Mu-
hammad
Ali. Since
that time,
the effects
of Parkin-
son’s disease have steadily
stolen the former heavy-
weight champion’s physical
abilities, leaving his fourth
wife in the difficult multiple
roles of partner, caregiver,
and public voice for more
research into the disease.
“I didn’t take it on as ‘our
illness,’” says Ali, 53. “Better
to externalize it and make
it into something more
positive.” The serene and
scholarly Ali may be less
loquacious than her hus-
band was in his prime, but
she is no less determined:
her advocacy efforts helped
spawn the Muhammad
Ali Parkinson Center at
Barrow Neurological
Institute in Phoenix, and
she has testified before
Congress on behalf of
the National Parkinson
Foundation. —David Dudley
VOICE FOR
PARKINSON’S
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