Lawrence.com

George Kimball has been many things: rebel, novelist, journalist, boxing aficionado.He blew into Lawrence like a harbinger of change at the beginning of the 1960s on an ROTC scholarship to KU and stuck around off and on throughout the turbulent decade. He ran for sheriff of Douglas County in 1970, the year the Kansas Union was firebombed and riots swept through the city, and was seen as a spokesman for the counterculture.In the Lawrence Daily Journal-World voter's guide, he promised to fix the town's drug problem: "Inferior-grade marijuana is often misrepresented and/or overpriced, and LSD and mescaline are frequently adulterated with everything from stimulants and animal tranquilizers to baking powder and strychnine. I would utilize laws governing fraud, truth-in-packaging, and price-fixing conspiracy to ensure that consumers of marijuana and other drugs could enjoy quality goods at reasonable prices."Shortly after losing the election 7-to-1, Kimball moved away and a little of the drama seemed to go with him. He went on to cover boxing extensively for a quarter century as a columnist for the Boston Herald. He now writes for ESPN.com and files a weekly "America at Large" column for the The Irish Times, among other things.Kimball talked with us about his new book, Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran and the Last Great Era of Boxing, based on his firsthand accounts covering Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns, and Roberto Duran. He also talked about his run for sheriff, getting George Foreman to officiate his wedding and his fight with cancer.He lives in New York and is returning to Lawrence to promote the book.