ComebackTown giving voice to the people of Birmingham & Alabama.

Click here to sign up for newsletter. (Opt out at any time)

This column is about one of the most amazing Birmingham men I ever met.

I’ve written columns in the past about crazy times at the old YMCA and about incredible Birmingham people like Fred Sington, Jr.

When I think about Charley Boswell, I get a smile in my heart and a tear in my eye.

Mr. Boswell was a blind golfer—which you will agree is quite startling.

I saw Mr. Boswell regularly at the old downtown YMCA for many years until his death.

He enjoyed getting massages and he came there often to get them from Neal Norris, a blind masseur (massage therapist) who worked there for many years.

Mr. Boswell knew his way around the YMCA as well as any sighted member and he could move around the locker room, massage room, or showers seamlessly.

But what was truly remarkable was that when people walked by him and said ‘hello’ he would respond without hesitation. “Hi Harold, so good to see you.” “Hi, David, good to see you.” He was able to recognize peoples’ voices instantly and he always responded ironically “Good to ‘see’ you.”

I always felt I should tell him my name so he would know who I was, but he never needed nor wanted the prompt from me or anyone else.

And he always had a big smile on his face—just to be around him made people happy.

Charley Boswell was born in Birmingham, Alabama on December 22, 1916. He graduated from Ensley High School in 1936 and earned a football scholarship to the University of Alabama. He played both football and baseball.

In 1941 he won a minor league baseball position with the Atlanta Crackers, but was drafted into the Army in 1941 to fight in World War II.

According to the American Junior Golf Association, “While helping a fellow soldier out of a burning tank, the tank exploded leaving Boswell blind. During his rehab, Boswell was introduced to the game of golf and became heavily involved in the United States Blind Golfers Association. He went on to win 16 United States Blind Golfers Association National Championships and 11 International Blind Golfers Association Championships. With his success, Boswell was able to fundraise and create awareness for blind golfers.”

On October 21, 1970, Boswell made a hole-in-one on the 17th hole at Vestavia Country Club. The club has a room in the Men’s Grill named after him with great memorabilia that represents his success playing golf and annually hosts an event called the Boswell Cup to honor his name.

Boswell shot three hole-in-ones in his lifetime and was inducted into the Alabama Hall of Fame in 1972.

In 1995 at the YMCA, we heard that Charley had fallen in his home and was not doing well. Everyone was heartbroken.

According to the New York Times, Boswell died at HealthSouth Medical Center. “He had been in failing health since suffering a blood clot on the brain during a fall… He was 78 years old.

“‘’I’ve often said that it took a lot of courage to go back into that tank and get that soldier,’ said Alston Callahan, development director at the Eye Foundation Hospital. ‘But all of the things he did after losing his sight, they took real courage.’

“Along with founding an insurance company, raising a family and serving as Alabama State Revenue Commissioner, Boswell learned to play golf despite the loss of his sight…He became well known as host of the Charley Boswell Celebrity Golf Classic, which raised $1.5 million for the Eye Foundation Hospital.”

According to Elliot Jones, Vestavia Country Club Director of Golf, Boswell said blindness “wasn’t a handicap to him, simply an inconvenience.”

I will never forget Charlie Boswell and neither well anyone else who met him.

David Sher is the founder and publisher of ComebackTown. He’s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).

Click here to sign up for our newsletter. (Opt out at any time)