Ybor City Chronicles: A Memoir

Pacheco (Fight Doctor), who is now a color commentator for boxing on TV, was Muhammad Ali's personal physician from 1963 to 1977. This captivating memoir, however, contains nothing about the fight game, but recalls growing up in Ybor City, the Hispanic enclave of Tampa, from 1935 to 1945, when the nation was coming out of the Depression and fighting WWII. Pacheco's self-described ``light-hearted reminiscence'' is full of memorable characters, most of them more Spanish or Cuban in their attitudes and mores than mainstream American. It portrays relatives, friends and storied eccentrics, including the author's pharmacist father, J.B., the absolute master of the house, tough and demanding but also loving and supportive. Pacheco, an artist as well as a physician, supplements the many photos here with numerous delightful drawings. The result is a most appealing volume. (Oct.)