An about-to-retire New Orleans newspaper columnist tells the story of a most unforgettable character: boxer Socks Barbarossa.

In New Orleans, prizefighter Socks Barbarrosa suddenly runs out of the ring before his title bout and swears he'll never fight again. He gives no reason for his strange actions. His girlfriend Angela sticks by him, but her father, a blind man known as "The Judge," brands him a coward and refuses to let his daughter marry him. Socks joins the army, goes to Korea, and comes back a war hero. Everybody loves him again, except for the Judge. A secret in Socks' past is revealed as the explanation for his quitting the ring, and is also the key to his redemption in the Judge's eyes.—John Oswalt <[email protected]>