Author Carlton Stowers was a member of that '62 Longhorns sprint relay who also reported on meets as a sportswriter for The Daily Texan. Today, he is a member of the Texas Literary Hall of Fame.
With a sense of humor intended, Carlton says about his Dean Smith story, "Like Smith, I ran a lead-off leg on the Longhorns' 440-yard relay in the early '60s. Thereafter, the comparison abruptly ends."
Below is an edited version of Carlton's piece, which originally appeared in American Way magazine and is reprinted here with the author's permission.
For the complete article on Longhorn Dean Smith written by Carlton Stowers, click on https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/author-carlton-stowers...
https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/mens-track-t... for TLSN's "Reflection Point" memories of Dean Smith.
WORLD'S FASTEST COWBOY by Carlton Stowers
It's not likely that you New Generation readers will remember him, but those of us with slightly higher mileage and reasonably good recall do. A University of Texas track standout, Dean came home from the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki with a gold medal earned as a member of the U.S. 400-meter relay and fourth in a blanket finish 200-meter dash. After flirting briefly with professional football as a member of the Los Angeles Rams, he became a familiar face to movie and television watchers for decades.
Things came naturally to the young West Texan, a high school state sprint champion and gifted rodeo performer during his schoolboy days at Graham High School. It was at the National Theater on Saturday afternoons, watching B-movie westerns that always seemed
to have titles like "Gunfight at Black Rock," when his dream began to take shape.
And, with the help of a friend named James Baumgarner (you know him best by his screen name, James Garner), he got his big break. Garner made some calls, Dean got an audition, and soon he was riding and roping, chasing down runaway stagecoaches, and engaging in more mock fistfights than you could shake a stick at. Lord only knows how many times he was shot and killed on screen. He quickly became one of Hollywood's most-wanted stuntmen, stepping in for the big-name stars when the time came for the dangerous dirty work.
With a sense of humor intended, Carlton says about his Dean Smith story, "Like Smith, I ran a lead-off leg on the Longhorns' 440-yard relay in the early '60s. Thereafter, the comparison abruptly ends."
Below is an edited version of Carlton's piece, which originally appeared in American Way magazine and is reprinted here with the author's permission.
For the complete article on Longhorn Dean Smith written by Carlton Stowers, click on https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/author-carlton-stowers...
https://texas-lsn.squarespace.com/mens-track-t... for TLSN's "Reflection Point" memories of Dean Smith.
WORLD'S FASTEST COWBOY by Carlton Stowers
It's not likely that you New Generation readers will remember him, but those of us with slightly higher mileage and reasonably good recall do. A University of Texas track standout, Dean came home from the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki with a gold medal earned as a member of the U.S. 400-meter relay and fourth in a blanket finish 200-meter dash. After flirting briefly with professional football as a member of the Los Angeles Rams, he became a familiar face to movie and television watchers for decades.
Things came naturally to the young West Texan, a high school state sprint champion and gifted rodeo performer during his schoolboy days at Graham High School. It was at the National Theater on Saturday afternoons, watching B-movie westerns that always seemed
to have titles like "Gunfight at Black Rock," when his dream began to take shape.
And, with the help of a friend named James Baumgarner (you know him best by his screen name, James Garner), he got his big break. Garner made some calls, Dean got an audition, and soon he was riding and roping, chasing down runaway stagecoaches, and engaging in more mock fistfights than you could shake a stick at. Lord only knows how many times he was shot and killed on screen. He quickly became one of Hollywood's most-wanted stuntmen, stepping in for the big-name stars when the time came for the dangerous dirty work.
