The Key West citizen. [volume], March 25, 1954, Page Page 7, Image 7

About The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current

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Thursday, March 25, 1954 THE KEY WEST CITIZEN
Covering The
Florida Keys
By JACK M. LEVINE
BUNKY RUSSELL: - A kid,
With the heart and courage of a
true champion, is dead. He died
last week. It happened in Mara
thon.
His name was Louis Russell, Jr. !
Bunky was his nickname. Spunky
Bunky, we called him. And, well
he deserved that appellation.
Bunky was only 17. He wanted
to live. He fought to live. He had
the makings of a great athlete. He
had the instinctive “know how” of
competitive sports.
But fate matched the kid against
an insidious oponent. There was no
code of fair play. Nothing of the
type that Bunky had encountered |
on the basketball court, the base
ball diamond, or perhaps the box
ing ring.
Bunky would take his chances
against an opposing competitor
whom he could see. But, this was
a case of battling something in-
TH ANKS !
You Have Made Us A
Million Dollar Institution
In Less Than Two Years
Your Savings are loaned to
help people Buy, Build jor
Repair Their Homes.
Your Security is’in
HONESTY and EFFICIENCY,
not only of the
First Federal Savings
& Loan Association
but also in the honesty and
efficiency of our political
leadership
SO, MAY WE BEG YOU TO
REGISTER
Before April 3rd and
VOTE YOUR HONEST
CONVICTIONS MAY 4TH
FIRST FEDERAL SAVING
t LOAN ASSOCIATION
Deposits Insured by Federal
Savings and Loan Ins. Corp..
to SIO,OOO each account
OPPOSITE BUS STATION
Fred J. Dion, President
V 4
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Buy NOW at Sealtest Dealers
All over town !
| visible and pernicious. Bunky’s op
ponent was in reality a camou
| flaged mortal enemy called . , .
J cancer.
The irony of it all is that cancer
delivered the lethal punch to an
athlete, who only knew the rules
' of fair play. Ironically, too, it was
on a high school basketball court,
that the symptoms of the effects
of the foul blow were detected.
It was last October. Bunky in
troduced us to Ed Tomerlin, Tom
erlin is basketball coach at the
Coral Shores School, Tavernier.
The coach gave us an advance
story on the school’s first basket
ball team. t
We inquired about Bunky’s pros
pects of playing on the team. Bun
ky had transferred from Key West i
High School. He had felt that he’d
have more time for high school
athletics at the Coral Shores
school.
[ .“One of my best players,” we
recall Tomerlin saying. But, he ex
pressed concern. The youth seemed
to tire too quickly. He suggested a
medical exam for Bunky. We pass
ed the word on to Billy Parrish in
Marathon. X-rays were taken.
Then, referrals to Miami special
ists. Plans for admission to hos
pitals. Further referral of the med
ical records for possible admission
to the hospital M the atomic energy
center, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Came rejection of the applica
tion. The grim implications be
came apparent. Bunky requested
a flight to a Texas clinic. Billy
Parrish couldn't refuse the request.
The Marathon community, Key
West and the Upper Keys respond
ed, financially.
Bunky was the first Boys’ State
delegate, in 1953, of American Le
gion Marathon Post 154. He re
turned from Tallahassee, last
spring, with the pledge to help the
Legion select its 1954 delegate. So
the Legion Post furnished initial
funds to help provide Bunky with
peace of mind. American Legion
Auxiliary Unit 154 participated in
the community fund drive. The
Marathon Volunteer Fire Depart
men sponsored th® campaign. Mrs.
Myrt Skidmore was a tireless
worker, throughout.
Key West’s Dorothy Daniels, Am
erican Cancer Society, Monroe
County Commander, had all the
data on the case. The Cancer Soc
iety provides the funds that made
possible clinic care for cases such
as Bunky’s.
But it was a case of reaching
for a last straw. There was no
! doubt that the odds ‘were against
; the kid. Yet he was always in
; there fighting. His smile never fad
ed.
“I think I’ll make it.” That’s
what Bunky confided one day.
He seemed to know that he
was at the short end of the betting
odds. So was Paddy DeMarco. Yet,
Paddy walked out of the boxing
ring, a champion of the world. A
nationwide televison audience wit
nessed that miracle only recently.
In Marathon, there emerged a
! timely second in Bunky’s corner.
I Artist Jess Stott made daily visits
to the stricken youth's bedside. He
began giving Bunky art lessons, j
Twenty years ago, Stott was com-!
pletely paralyzed. Y’et he manag- j
ed to pull through. Today he is i
painting again. Stott’s oil painting j
of a local scene brought sls at a |
community auction for Bunky’s
fund. The artist knows the true
significance of courage. His legless i
wife, Dorothy, can be seen daily,
in front of the Marathon Sundry
Store. Cheerfully she offers for
sale her “flowers from the garden
of the sea,” shell jewelry. Adversi
ty hasn’t affected the philosophy of
Stott and his wife.
Permit us, therefore, to quote in
part from the letter written by Ar
tist Jess Stott on March 14, 1954.!
We can think of no finer tribute to
the memory of courageous, depart
ed Louis “Bunky” Russell, Jr.
“This day my heart is heavy, ;
for the duty falls to me to relate !
to you the sad news of the passing :
of our mutual friend, “Bunky” Rus- j
sell. Bunky passed away today, at |
2:45 p. m.
“He w'as a brave lad. Knowing
from the beginning that he was
fighting a losing battle, he never
once gave up, or assumed a ne
gative attitude towards the future.
“Last Tuesday, I watched a 19-
year-old girl plunge to her death
from the 13th floor of the court
house in Miami, because she did
not have the courage to face the
future. What a comparison of at
titudes.
“The greatest courage is in liv
ing the life, fighting the fight, do
ing what is to be done, that we 1
may take our place in the great
plan of the Almighty.
“A hero, or coward, it is not for |
Page 7
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Ann Sheridan
Gives Opinion
Of Film Glamor
•
Ann Sheridan roars a hearty
“yes” to the question, “Can a mo
vie star be glamorous and ‘regu
lar’ at the same time?” This is
her answer to a minority of Holly
wood believers who maintain that
the film city isn’t what is used to
be because the stars of this gen
eration insist upon being just like
the folks next door.
The red-haired actress is now
starring with John Lund and Ho
ward Duff in Universal - Inter
national’s Technicolor “Steel
Town,” opening Sunday at the
Monroe Theatre. “Steel Tow-n,” di
rected by George Sherman and
produced by Leonard Goldstein,
combines the documentary flavor
of a large steel mill in operation
with a movie story that packs plen
ty of thrills and action.
“Those people who would have
us battle in champagne, wear eve
ning gowns 24 hours a day and
ride in limousines with the cur
tains down are living in the past,”
says Ann.
“A gal can wear slacks and eat
hamburgers and still have enough
charm to pull them in at the box
office.”
There was a time in show bus
iness when stars like Maude Ad
ams were never seen by the pub
lic because her producer insisted
that she travel everywhere in a
blacked out automobile and that
her private life should never be
discussed in the newspapers. Fran
cis .X. Bushman, the first great
lover of the screen, was the father
of several children at the height
of his career, but his studio bosses
saw fit to keep it a secret.
“Nowadays,” Ann concludes, “a
very large majority of the/ top
stars have families, just like every
one else,, and that domestic fact
us to judge-, but to merely medi
tate upon the facts as we find
them.”
9 Fined In Theft
Of Gov’t Goods
ALBANY, N.Y. MV-Nine men
have been fined a total of $l,lOO
in connection with “share-the
wealth” thefts of $7,000 worth of
government property from Army
depots at Schenectady and nearby
Voorheesville.
The? nine, who pleaded guilty in
federal court Tuesday to charges
of stealing tools and clothing from
the depots, were among 28 civilian
employes arrested by the FBI last
November.
Federal authorities said the men
had taken the goods from the
Army storehouses and set them
aside. Then, authorities said, the
men would tell friends w-here the
loot was, and the friends would
pick it up.
Shark Battles
With Whales
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. WV-
There was a life and death battle
in the surf off Aliso Beach, near
here, yesterday, between tw-o 30-
foot whales and a 15-foot shark, but
the outcome finally was shrouded
by the deep water of the Pacific.
Two lifeguards who watched the
marine giants flail the surf for
several minutes said the whales
chased the shark onto the sand and
there was a deadly exchange that
left a section of the strand blood
red. Then the battlers plunged into
deep w ater again and disappeared.
has no bearing whatsoever upon
their popularity w-ith the fans.”
Miss Sheridan is convinced that
the days of phoney glamor have
disappeared and that the “good
Joe type” of star who stops on the
street to sign autographs when the
fans call him by his first name
is definitely here to stay.
Many spectacular scenes for
“Steel Town” were actually filmed
on location at the gigantic Kaiser
Steel Plant at Fontana, Calif.
James Best, William Harrigan
and Eileen Crowe head of the large
supporting cast of the new film.
Chiang Pledges
Efforts To
Recover China
TAIPEH. Formosa IT!—President
Chiang Kai-shek today pledged his
remaining years to the task of
recovering mainland China from
the Reds and establishing a “free,
China.”
Chiang, in a speech closing the
National Assembly, which re
elected him to another six-year
term, said his government would
welcome criticism intended to
further the cause of democracy m
China.
But he said this “privilege” did
not apply to Communists, fellow
travelers or to “people shouting
from sanctuaries abroad.”
The latter apparently was a ref
erence to K. C. Wu, fomer gov
ernor of Formosa now in Evan
ston, 111., and such persons as Li
Tsung-jen, who was sacked by the
Assembly March 10 from the vice
presidency. Li has lived in New
York for several years.
Command Change
Held On USS Huse
Commander Carter B. Jennings,
USN, has relieved Captain Homer
H. Nielsen, USN, as Commander
Escort Squadron ofurteen, in cere
monies held aboard the USS flag
ship Huse (DE-145) in Key W’est,
Florida, it was announced today.
Commander Jennings, holder of
the Navy Cross, served during
World War II entirely aboard des
troyers in the Pacific. Prior to as
suming duties as squadron com
mander he served two years with
the Officer of the Navy Comptrol
ler.
At present, his wife and four
sons, Carter, Jr., David. Richard,
and Carlisle, reside in Washington,
D. C.
Captain Nielsen with his w ife and
daughter, Karen, will go to Califor
nia where he will assume duties
as Ordnance Officer at the Mare
Island Shipyard in Vallejo.
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