Glenn Singleton never met a stranger.
An author, historian, and a beloved member of the Ama and St. Charles Parish community alike, the man affectionately nicknamed Tojo became fast friends with seemingly everyone he met, able to quickly relate to those young, old and from all walks of life.
“There will never be another Glenn “Tojo” Singleton,” said Dwayne LaGrange, who calls Singleton both friend and mentor. “God broke the mold when he made Tojo.”
The community mourns his loss. Singleton passed away last month, the result of a battle with cancer.
Singleton was a storyteller at heart – and he told stories of the greats. His book “Crossing Over” memorialized the life of Don Raymond, one of the first black students to attend Hahnville High School and the first black athlete to ever participate in sports at the school. Raymond, a celebrated multi-sport star, tragically lost his life in a tragic 1969 car accident when he was only 16 years old.
Singleton also authored “My Hero, Muhammed Ali: Unforgettable Memories” – and Singleton has long been well-known as Muhammed Ali’s number one fan.
The source on that? The Greatest, himself. Singleton long ago befriended Ali, and a note from the latter signed “to my number one fan” was displayed proudly at Singleton’s famed Ali Showroom at his home. Singleton and wife Angelina became friends with the Ali family – Rahaman Ali told Singleton he considered him his brother following the legend’s passing in 2016.
“A man that promoted peace all of his life looked down and saw it within those two days,” Singleton said after returning home from Ali’s funeral. “He saw people united from all over the world. He saw what he meant to so many people.”
As he stood by his champion’s casket to say goodbye for one last time, Singleton read an excerpt from “My Hero.” He intended to give the book to Ali for his 75th birthday, prior to Ali’s passing.
“I wrote, ‘A lion who roars teaches cubs the art of survival, in the jungle,” Singleton said. “‘The art is in the roar. In order to roar like a lion, you have to see a lion roar. Muhammed Ali was a lion who roared at a time everyone was afraid to. You were our lion, the king of the jungle.”
Singleton was part of Ali’s entourage and spent time at Ali’s camp as the all-time great prepared to face Leon Spinks on Sept. 15, 1978, the night Ali became the first-ever three-time world heavyweight champion in the boxing world. It was the realization of a dream of Singleton’s, who long idolized Ali.
His Ali Showroom is full of pictures of Ali’s conquests and a few more of Ali with Singleton and his family. He created it to stand as a museum for the younger generation to appreciate the legend.
“He was my hero. When most kids had fictional heroes, like Superman and Batman, mine was Muhammed Ali, aka Cassius Clay,” Singleton said in 2015. “Years later, I showed him this picture he took with my children, and he was so excited that we were part of that night. He took my photo album and signed it, ‘To my best fan, Glenn Singleton.’ I thought, how can I prove that I’m worthy of that statement? This was our children’s playroom, and I turned it into a Muhammed Ali museum. This showroom, is a gift to generation of kids today … when they hear about The Ali Showroom, they come here and see what he was all about.”
While celebrating the legends, Singleton made a big impact right here in his home community as well.
“Growing up, we’d be running through the neighborhood and he just always had a kind gesture for us,” LaGrange said. “He’d never cease to amaze us, whether we needed a ride somewhere, or buying us soft
drinks. One day, he loaded up his car and took a bunch of the youngsters out to the Lakefront … all we knew was Ama at the time, and here we are out on the Lakefront, he’s just giving us a feel for what its like to be outside of Ama.”
He said Singleton has always supported the community youth – and that LaGrange knows from experience how much that support means.
“He’d be at my Little League games and cheering me on. And my uncle was a great baseball player and he taught me how to be a switch hitter. So when Glenn noticed that, he started calling me Pete Rose,” said LaGrange. “I’d be up to bat and he’d be behind the batter’s cage, ‘C’mon, Pete Rose, get it Pete Rose.’ And that meant so much to me. I knew I had a supporter in him, cheering me on, and it made me want to perform even more.”
LaGrange said Singleton’s passing leaves a large void in the community. He also said Singleton had a kind heart and a genuine love for people.
“He believed there was more to the stories and to the legacies of these people (he told stories of),” LaGrange said. “They were more than just athletes, they did things to help their communities.”
Ama native Mark Temple’s grandmother lived across the street from Singleton, who was Temple’s first basketball coach. He counts Singleton among the inspirations for his own basketball coaching career of nearly 20 years – Temple coached East Iberville to a state championship win and earned Coach of the Year honors in 2021.
“All of his sons and I basically grew up together,” Temple said. “We call one another cousins. He spoke life into a lot of kids. He spoke life into me and gave me a lot of confidence. He always had something positive to say, a kind word or something inspirational. He always motivated you and wanted to help you do better.”
Temple said Singleton taught him to dream big.
“Some of those lessons – I’d have never thought as an 8-year-old that the things he was teaching me would influence the rest of my life. The day I won the state championship, he was one of the first people I called, and I thanked him for everything,” Temple said. “He was a guy who always collected our newspaper clippings when we did something good, always let us know, ‘I’m proud of you.’ He left a lasting legacy for so many kids.”
Temple remembered making a game-winning shot years after being coached by Singleton.
“He ran out the stands and gave me the biggest hug and goes, ‘Man, what I told you – I told you, you were gonna be great!’ And that memory lasts with me. He’s a very special individual. For a lot of people my age – he was our childhood. He coached, helped a lot of kids and not just in Ama, but in the entire St. Charles Parish community. Even the kids he didn’t coach,” Temple said.
“One thing that always stood out to me, we’d play different teams, and we won a lot – but he’d always go to the other team, sit down and talk to their players. And for us growing up, that was big. I don’t think he ever met a stranger. That’s the type of person he was.”
