The former French Olympic skiing champion and entrepreneur Jean Vuarnet has died at the age of 83, his family has announced.
Vuarnet, who gave his name to a world-famous brand of sunglasses, won gold in the downhill event in the 1960 Winter Olympics in California.
He is credited with inventing an aerodynamic crouch for downhill skiing known as the "egg".
Vuarnet was also the first person to win the event using metal skis.
His aerodynamic ski position has been copied and perfected by generations of skiers, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris.
At that competition in California, Vuarnet also wore a new type of anti-glare sunglasses provided for the French team.
And for us older types, Vuarnet's were a must-have fashion accessory.
They were everywhere when I was in high school.
Those of us who couldn't afford them wore "Pho-nets."
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
DiS is right. Vuarnet was de riguere fashion in the early 80s. My friends and I were very anti-prep, anti-frat while we were in college, but damned if we didn't also lust after those preppy Vuarnet sunglasses they wore.
sancarlos wrote:DiS is right. Vuarnet was de riguere fashion in the early 80s. My friends and I were very anti-prep, anti-frat while we were in college, but damned if we didn't also lust after those preppy Vuarnet sunglasses they wore.
I didn't have the classic "Cat-Eye" Vuarnets in college, but I had a pair of these (the Double-Bridge) and loved them.
Broke 'em wiping out on a cat track at Alta on a really cold morning. Was super bummed.
This one is pretty obscure, but Stephen McDonald, the NYPD officer who was paralyzed by gunshot wounds and went on to lead a pretty inspirational life for three decades, has passed. Not surprised that the Daily News would have a thorough and gushing obit at the ready, this is right up their alley: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ste ... -1.2942612
He was a pretty big media figure in NYC in the 1980's. In fact, I would put him on the Mount Rushmore of curiosities from 1980's New York local news that faded into obscurity:
Officer McDonald
Bernhard Goetz
Robert Chambers
Donald Trump
Ms. Hollingworth, the undisputed doyenne of war correspondents, who died on Tuesday in Hong Kong at 105, was less than a week into her first job, as a reporter for the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph, on that windy day in 1939.
Driving alone on the road from Gleiwitz, then in Germany, to Katowice, in Poland — a distance of less than 20 miles — she watched as the wind lifted a piece of the tarpaulin that had been erected on the German side to screen the valley below from view.
Through the opening, Ms. Hollingworth saw, she later wrote, “large numbers of troops, literally hundreds of tanks, armored cars and field guns” concealed in the valley.
She knew then that Germany was poised for a major military incursion. Hastening back across the border to the Polish side, she telephoned her editor with the news, a world exclusive.
The date was Aug. 28, 1939, and her article, published the next day, would become, as the British paper The Guardian wrote in 2015, “probably the greatest scoop of modern times.”
On Sept. 1, Hitler’s forces invaded Poland, marking the start of World War II.
And his one problem is he didn’t go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death.
wlu_lax6 wrote:David Modell, son of Art, and former Ravens President. Lung Cancer.
Poor guy.
Fuck his father.
Nice man. Had the pleasure of talking to him a few times when I worked on field at Ravens games. He would take the tobacco out of big cigars and use it as dip. Always had a smile and a handshake for everyone.
BFJ is the town wizard who runs a magic shop. He also has a golem that he has trained to attack anti-Semites.
wlu_lax6 wrote:David Modell, son of Art, and former Ravens President. Lung Cancer.
Poor guy.
Fuck his father.
Nice man. Had the pleasure of talking to him a few times when I worked on field at Ravens games. He would take the tobacco out of big cigars and use it as dip. Always had a smile and a handshake for everyone.
That sounds.....dry.
You know what you need? A lyrical sucker punch to the face.
Earl Foreman. Co-owned/Partial Owner of the Bullets, Eagles, Spectrum, and Flyers (Brother-in-Law was Ed Snider). Played a role in NFL-AFL merger and NBA-ABA mergers. Also owned the Washington Whips (NASL) and was commisioner of the MISL https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/e ... 24940991ee
wlu_lax6 wrote:Earl Foreman. Co-owned/Partial Owner of the Bullets, Eagles, Spectrum, and Flyers (Brother-in-Law was Ed Snider). Played a role in NFL-AFL merger and NBA-ABA mergers. Also owned the Washington Whips (NASL) and was commisioner of the MISL https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/e ... 24940991ee
Busy guy.
"beautiful, with an exotic-yet-familiar facial structure and an arresting gaze."
Court records show the late drummer wrestled with financial problems. In 2011, he sold his prized Palm Beach home for $2 million to pay off an $800,000 bank mortgage. Federal records show the IRS hounded Trucks. Last year, the IRS filed two liens against his $500,000 condo. Trucks had to pay additional taxes for 2013 and 2014 with a total over $540,000.
BFJ is the town wizard who runs a magic shop. He also has a golem that he has trained to attack anti-Semites.
