BRUSH WITH FAME
Her father befriended track legend Jesse Owens.
Dad’s long friendship with track and field great Jesse Owens
My father, Chester E. Page, did a lot of track and field in his teens and early 20s and won several trophies. He met and became friends with Jesse Owens. In the early 1930s, when I was a toddler, my father invited Owens to a sporting event in Salem, Oregon, where we were living.
I treasure a picture taken around that time of Owens with my dad and mother, Evelyn.
My father liked to show off his prowess by jumping over our car while it was parked at the beach. I inherited some of his track talent; I was a fast runner as a teenager. Uncle Raymond, Dad’s brother, decided that I should compete in the pre-Olympic trials, despite my being a smoker and having no training. Dad wanted nothing to do with this endeavor.
I managed to come in second in the heats, which were run on a straightaway, and qualified for the 200-meter finals. When he heard that, Dad showed up to see my race.
I was in the outside lane and took off feeling confident, but as we headed into the curve, I suddenly found myself in last place. I was so embarrassed that I ran completely off the track and hid behind the popcorn stand while the other runners passed the bleachers where my father was sitting. I never lived that down.
At least Dad didn’t invite Owens to that event! Sadly, I have no memory of meeting Owens as a child, but my parents always remembered him as friendly and down-to-earth.
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