It's been a busy time in the Departure Lounge this week, so let us now note the passing of three Absent Friends.
Alex Trebek
1940 - 2020
It's hard to find someone who has been in the public eye as long as Alex Trebek has been, and who is so universally admired. Honestly, have you ever heard or read anything negative about Alex Trebek? Trebek was tapped to replace original "Jeopardy" host Art Fleming sometime in the 1980's and he went on to host the show for 36 years and over 8,000 episodes, right up until his death this week the age of 80. Episodes with Trebek as host will air into December.
Trebek was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a few years ago, and he fought the disease nobly and courageously, setting an example and being an inspiration for millions of people in the process. It is for this that he will be particularly remembered in this household.
If you want to have a few laughs, go down the YouTube rabbit hole and search out episodes of Saturday Night Live's "Celebrity Jeopardy." The exchanges between Will Farrell's Alex Trebek and Darryl Hammond's Sean Connery are absolutely priceless and hilarious. You will even find one clip where Alex Trebek himself shows up at the end of one of the sketches, demonstrating yet another admirable trait: He never took himself too seriously.
Eleanor Schano
1932 - 2020
This one is a purely local one for Pittsburghers, but the death of Eleanor Schano yesterday at the age of 88 marks the passing of a true pioneer in Pittsburgh broadcasting. Miss Schano's first television job came in in 1951. She was Pittsburgh's first TV "Weather Girl" (she gave the weather while wearing a negligee; we've come a long way) at WDTV, Channel 3, the predecessor station to KDKA Channel 2. Except of a brief one year stint as a news anchor in Palm Beach, Fl in 1982, she spent her entire career in Pittsburgh, working at all four commercial channels and at the public station WQED, Channel 13.
As her on air presence lessened, she remained active in all facets of Pittsburgh community life, serving on the Boards of the Pittsburgh CLO and the Carnegie Science Center, among many other service organizations. Her broadcasting awards are too numerous to list here. I can recall seeing Eleanor Schano several times in the lobby at Fifth Avenue Place over the years. I believe that she did some community service work on Highmark's behalf over the years. This would have been in the late '90s or early '00s. She was a striking and elegant presence.
Her career literally encompassed the entire history of television in the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania area. Her passing closes a chapter in that history.
Tom Heinsohn
1934 - 2020
Basketball Hall of Famer Tom Heinsohn died yesterday at the age of 86. I won't go into the statistics and career accomplishments of Heinsohn here. It's easy enough to look that up, but here is one truly remarkable fact. Tom Heinsohn is the only person who can be directly linked to involvement with all seventeen NBA Championships won by the Boston Celtics as either a player, coach, or broadcaster. That is amazing. On PTI yesterday, Michael Wilbon said that there was nothing better - nothing - than being in a locker room, press room, or hotel bar and listening to Tom Heinsohn hold court. I can only imagine.
But I have a rather peculiar memory of Tom Heinsohn.
In 1954 and 1955, Heinsohn's Holy Cross teams met Duquesne in the finals of the NIT. Holy Cross won it in '54, and the Dukes won in '55. My parents are Duquesne alums and my Godmother and frequent babysitter Martha Cordic (yes, Rege Cordic's sister) was a student at Duquesne at the time. I can remember that it was being said that the three guys that we did not like in our house were "Togo, Heinsohn, and Kaszprzak," even though I had no idea what that meant. I can remember being able to say the names "Togo, Heinsohn, and Kaszprzak" to the great delight of my parents, brothers, and Martha.
I looked it up this morning. Togo Palazzi, Tom Heinsohn, and Frank Kaszprzak were teammates on the 1954 Holy Cross team, the team that beat the Dukes (Palazzi was gone by 1955). Then I did the math. When the Dukes were losing to Holy Cross in that 1954 NIT, and little Bobby Sproule was making his family and his Godmother laugh by saying "Togo, Heinsohn, and Kaszprzak", he was all of two years old!!! I would turn three in September of 1954. That just might be my earliest known memory!!
When I told Marilyn that story this morning, she said, "Wow, you really were raised in a sports environment." Indeed, and I will always be glad for that.
RIP Alex Trebek, Eleanor Schano, Tom Heinsohn
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