Great site; stumbled upon it today. I was at the Modesto Relays on May 25, The meet was over but the Pole Vault competition was still going on. I remember when the event was concluded and I took my program over to John Pennel and asked him to sign the cover; he did willingly. Looking back over the years I considered my youthful act was inappropriate to approach Pennel just after he saw his own World Record taken from him!!
He was very gracious. I came to know John Pennel 20 years later living in Westlake Village, CA; he passed away at a relatively young age in Quite a day, for sure!! Bob S Danville, CA. Bob, thank you for the kind words but more so the description of the meet from your direct experience. These words are more valuable than anything we will draw out of old journals.
If you wish to contact us directly use my email at georgebrose yahoo. I stumbled upon this site when searching for my great uncle Adolph Plummer. He's my grandfather's youngest brother and the last remaining member of my great-grandparents four children. I'm from Brooklyn, NY but had the opportunity to meet Adolph for the first time in Colorado where he lives.
Such a great man, intelligent and filled with sarcastic humor. Made me proud to say the least. Being that our family roots are from Jamaica back then known as the British West Indies , I now tell people the my great uncle is the "first" Usain Bolt. LOL Thanks for the article, he did mention that his 50th anniversary just passed and I didn't even know it until then.
If given modern technology and training, no doubt in my mind the world would have seen Usain Bolt stats or possibly better. As my father said, he was just "raw"! Contact me at kaseemporter gmail. Kaseem Thanks for the article. Kaseem, Thank you for your nice letter. If you wish to send a picture please send it to Irathermediate gmail. I can also put you in touch with one of your uncle's teammates who wrote some to the things we have put in the blog about him.
