Charley Boswell
Charles “Charley” Albert Boswell, blind professional golfer, was born December 22, 1916 in Birmingham, Alabama and died October 22, 1995. He graduated at Ensley High School and enrolled at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He was tailback for the Alabama Crimson Tide for three years under Coach Frank Thomas, establishing a punting record which stood for over 30 years. He was in the class of 1940.
He entered the Army in the Spring of 1941, foregoing a planned professional baseball career. On November 30, 1944, while assisting a disabled colleague, Charley Boswell sustained a blinding battlefield injury. He retired from the Army in 1946 with the rank of Major.
While in Valley Forge (Philadelphia) Rehabilitation Hospital, Mr. Boswell took up golf for the first time. He helped establish golf as a competitive activity for the blind, winning 28 United States and International Blind Golf Championships. Through golf he became lifelong friends with Bob Hope, Alan Shephard, Ken Venturi, and many professionals still active on the Senior PGA tour.
Accomplishments
- First Chairman of the Board, Helen Keller Eye Research Foundation, 1990 - 1995
- Revenue Commissioner, State of Alabama, 1971-1979
- Author of the book, Now I See, 1969, reprinted 1987, reprinted 1991
- President, Boswell Insurance Agency, 1954-1995
- “Hole in one” around 1975
Charley Boswell was America's best known blind golf champion. He used to intimidate his opponents by saying things like "That's the worst swing I ever heard" or "I'm glad you see the hazards on this course -- they'd scare the hell out of me!"
He received or was awarded numerous honors: The Philadelphia Sports Writers Assn. Award, 1957; the Ben Hogan Trophy of the Golf Writers Assn. of America, 1958; This is Your Life on the Ralph Edwards Television Show, 1960; Football Hall of Fame Foundation Distinguished American Award, 1965; the President's Distinguished Service Award from the Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, and was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.
He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Eye Foundation Hospital, Birmingham. He began the Charley Boswell Celebrity Golf Classic with the proceeds going to the Eye Foundation Hospital, Birmingham, 1974. The Veterans Administration's Southeastern Charley Boswell Blind Rehabilitation in Birmingham was dedicated in 1982.
Family
He married Kathryn Lacy on April 5, 1942, and they had three children: Kay, Charles Jr. and Stephen.--MacroAlan 12:18, 14 October 2007 (PDT)