new delhi muhammad ali wanted his children to take up regular jobs that did not pose any physical threat and never become boxers but yielded when daughter laila insisted on picking up boxing gloves says her sister hanaaccording to her ali tried to persuade laila to reconsider her decision but when he saw that she was serious he was very supportive and felt proud of herit was one of dads many gifts his ability to support and encourage his children even when he did not agree with our choices he just prayed laila wouldnt get hurt and god must have heard his prayers because she retired undefeated and was never hurt says hana alis third youngest childshe says ali was not possessive about his children but was protective of themhana has come out with a memoir at home with muhammad ali which is an intimate behindthescenes portrait of the legendmy book was born when i received the audio recordings from dad and then grew into a memoir when i discovered the love letters that my father wrote to my mother it includes neverbeforeseen photographs love letters and audio recordings hana told pti in an interviewin the 1970s ali began recording a series of audio diaries mostly in his los angeles home through these private tapes as well as personal journals love letters and rare photographs one can discover ali the family man and see how despite the complexities of his personal life he went to extraordinary lengths to keep all of his nine children united and to help others be they family friend or strangerthis memoir is ultimately a love story and a families journey against the backdrop of a celebrity father and how a woman in reflection of her childhood navigates a personal journey of healing and understanding amid the pressure of her fathers fame his failing health and the demise for her parents marriage all while living a fish bowl lifeshe says this book published by bantam press is not just for ali fans but also for mothers and fathers who want to learn how to be better parents and for sons and daughters trying to find healing with their siblings and their parents life decisionsali was most concerned with making the recordings for his family and he also knew that they would be valuable in some way but at the time he was not sure how they would be used says hanawhen he gave them to me he told me to do something with them or that i could sell them if i wanted to i told him i was going to write a book first then i might sell the rights to the collection one day he was happy about thathana has not sold the rights yet but she has licensed about 12 minutes to a documentary film i am ali and an upandcoming hbo filmessentially dads recordings are the worlds first reality show it was a brilliant idea daddy was always ahead