Dan's Memory
These paragraphs are collected from Dan McGowan's recollections in email on the McGowans mailing list and elsewhere.
2009
Heard at OGara's
Wednesday night at O'Gara's two seemingly "older" gentlemen came in to watch
the Gopher game on the Big Ten Network, (right after you were there, Mooch!)
one of whom I had seen before, the other not. After awhile and a few cool
ones later, the one I had not seen before asked me "You're a McGowan
aren't you?" He said that he was in the Cretin Class of 1970 with Sean,
had spent most of the time since then in the San Francisco Bay area, and
had heard through some of the boys that Sean had passed away, and was
quite saddened and shocked when he heard. He said, as most of Sean's
old friends do, "He was just an all-around great guy." He (his name
escapes me — as I said earlier, that part of my brain cells were likely
killed by all the second-hand smoke I inhaled at O'Gara's in the first
22 years of my employment there when smoking was still allowed) said
that he had tried to get ahold of Sean when Sean was living in Carson
City and he was in Reno on a business trip, but they weren't able to
connect because of scheduling conflicts, but said Sean made a great
impression upon him in their high school years....So they still ask about
Sean, and always with great sadness that he is no longer with us. — DPM
2018
Mentioned here: Kev is brother Kevin. Benz is brother Brendan.
Today when I was at the Minneapolis Club I was perusing the Minneapolis Star Tribune before work and I noticed the date was November 15, 2018. What immediately jumped into my mind was 60 years ago today when Dad had just been elected to the legislature and we were in St. Paul for his first caucus with the Liberal caucus. We were staying at the Lowry hotel where I think the caucus was also meeting and I remembered walking by the newsstand in the Lowry lobby and noticing a headline that reported the death of Tyrone Power, probably my favorite actor as a kid and how heartbroken I was. My mind plays all kinds of tricks when it come to dates that I remember, even for things that happened 60 years ago. And Tyrone Power had actually died earlier in the day as the afternoon papers often reported on things that happened the morning of the date of publication. So just to be certain I Googled Tyrone Power and sure enough - he died on November 15, 1958.
My recollection of the November 1958 trip right after Dad was first elected to the House was that it was just us 3 oldsters and Dad–Mom had to stay home and take care of 8, 7, 6, 3, and 2-year-olds (Mom always drew the short straw on trips "to 'da Cities.") Although it was a year later on Black Friday (I don't think they called it that then) of 1959 when our whole 10-person clan in the pre-Mike days came to Minneapolis in the brand new 1959 Mercury wagon and we stayed at the Curtis Hotel on Friday night and then went to Rochester on Saturday to spend that afternoon and night at the Hollenhorst's. And my, that Rochester house must have been a big one to accommodate the entire Hollenhorst and McGowan families.
–Dan
Kev
Benz nailed that one (other than verifying the hotel–was it the Curtis or the Leamington–they were, of course, directly across the street from one another?) but my first reaction was "I don't ever remember staying at the Curtis when the Rams were staying there" but I do remember staying at the Curtis in March of 1960 when the great Ohio State national basketball champs with Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, Bobby Knight and others were staying there and schmoozing with them in the Curtis coffee shop after the Gopher-Ohio State game. We were there to watch Tom McGrann on the Gopher freshman team and what plaudits the Buckeye players were giving Tom when we told them he was our cousin…….Roman Gabriel played for the Rams from 1962-72 so I figured it had to be either 1962, 1963, or 1964–after that we lived in St. Paul and wouldn't have been staying at the Curtis (or Leamington). Then I recalled that you all gave Marg a ride to 'da Cities on Thanksgiving Saturday in 1964 to catch a bus back to Milwaukee, which is why I didn't remember it–because I wasn't there. Benz is correct that the Rams played the Vikings on November 29, 1964–Thanksgiving was on November 26 that year, so that was undoubtedly the time–Saturday, November 28, 1964. I didn't go along with you'se guys to 'da Cities because I was enjoying a few days at home on my Thanksgiving break from St. Thomas and the last thing I wanted to do was go back to the Twin Cities a day earlier than I had to–I went back on Sunday the 29th.
But the thing I remember most about that Saturday night when you all were staying at the Curtis (or Leamington) is that it was the one time Jerry Koosman was at our house in Appleton. We all went to the Fiesta Ballroom in Montevideo that night and it was standard procedure for someone to have an after-the-ball party and since I had the house to myself I told everyone "Hey–we can go to my house since my whole family is gone until tomorrow," so it was 3 girls from my class, Karen Colwell, Idelle Boraas, and Kathy Beveridge, and Roger Bonk who was dating Idelle at the time and Jerry Koosman who was likewise going with Kathy Beveridge then, and Karen who was my main squeeze at the time. So we all sat out on the breezeway and shot the breeze until the wee hours of the morning, around 5 AM as I recall.
–Dan
2019
I'm really going to miss the Rice Street Sears store in St. Paul after it closes on Sunday–I shopped there for over 50 years. I remember going there in our Frankson days when it was practically a brand new store–opened in 1963, and in my 32 years at the State Capitol I shopped there all the time–it was directly across the street from the Capitol. Bought our first microwave as a Christmas present for Pam in 1980 there, a big clunky thing that I remember cost $500, two treadmills, at least one window AC unit, lots of smaller appliances, socks, underwear, a watch, many presents of various kinds, and $2,000 worth of appliances for my new kitchen just last summer–you can't beat those Kenmore appliances. Another old friend bites the dust. –DPM
http://www.startribune.com/pickings-are-slim-in-final-days-of-st-paul-sears/503877202/#grid
From Mike McGowan:
I remember her doing her picks channel 4 using a chalk board http://www.startribune.com/susan-cox-platou-tv-sports-prognosticator-known-as-bronco-dies-at-83/503738422/
Dan's reply:
I remember her originally as the wife of Bobby Cox, the hotshot QB of the Gophers in the mid-to late 50's when I started attending Gopher games as a result of the Star and Tribune Gopher football trips for signing up new customers to the paper. Bobby Cox even appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated in around 1957 or so as he was the Golden Boy who was supposed to take the Gophers back to their glory days of the Bernie Bierman years of the pre-WWII era. But of course appearing on the cover of SI became the kiss of death for any unfortunate soul who had the misfortune and Bobby Cox won a few games for the Gophers but never fulfilled his once great promise….I also remember that Sue (Bronco) and her second husband, Carl Platou, a big health care executive, were long-time winter residents of Sanibel Island, as are/were many Minnesotans. And she was actually quite good at picking winners in her WCCO days as she actually spent a lot of work and time at it and had something like a 75-80% rate of correct picks. She was very attractive which meant lots of men watched the show, and if I'm not mistaken she had an identical twin sister who left this world way before her time. So yes, Mike–I remember her well. –DPM
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