RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

[gh]

member of the '56 U.S. team, won the NCAA javelin that year for CalTech.

no details yet known other than March 12 after a long illness.

One of the greatest fans I ever had the pleasure to know.

[Jackaloupe]

Re: RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

One of the greatest fans...
I can testify to that: Phil even showed up in Baltimore at the obscure All-Around, won by Hammer Thrower Tom Pagani, who went on to coach Fresno State.

He married Fran, who gained notoriety at Stanford as head of the Palo Alto Vet Hospital, infamous as the inspiration for Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", thanks to early experiments w/ LSD. They'd work out together at the Stanford Gym.

They bought in early at Sky Ranch in Mendocino. Fran had earlier taken on the old boys at Stanford Med School when they challenged her nomination for head of Brain Surgery. A more beautiful couple there's never been!

[KDFINE]

Re: RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

As a slight diversion, a few weeks back I read that in England they've recently experimented with using LSD to relieve the anxiety of patients nearly the end of their lives, and it seems to be beneficial.

[gh]

Re: RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

Dr. Fran was (I assume still is; haven't seen her in a few years) a remarkable woman; as much fun to be around as Phil was.

But she wasn't at the Palo Alto Veteran's Hospital, which has no connection to Stanford (other than being a few miles away). She was at Stanford Hospital, and became very famous for her resignation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_K._Conley

(doesn't mean that she and Kesey couldn't have worked out together, however)

[lovetorun]

Re: RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

I remember Phil Conley well...wasn't he, along with Bud Held, one of the few Americans to throw over 250 feet?

[gh]

Re: RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

Conley was high on the all-time list at the time, but you've gotta remember that was at the point in time where the aerodynamic Held javelin replaced the old "beetle" model. In '55 (the year before Phil won), the old MR was broken by some 20 feet, and the first 6 throwers all exceeded the old meet record.

Phil would have been one of the first to tell you that it was technology that propelled him that high on the ATL, more than his talent.

[gh]

Re: RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

still haven't found an obit anywhere, but a week after his death Cal Tech (coincidentally, i assume) put him in its HOF.

http://gocaltech.com/information/HallOf ... nouncement

[Jackaloupe]

Re: RIP: Olympian Phil Conley

But she wasn't at the Palo Alto Veteran's hospital (sic, Veterans Hospital, more than one, and it's for them, not theirs; like Farmers Markets, seldom a Farmer's Market, although I grew up tending my Dad's Roadstand in NJ. I had a low hurdle midway between the roadstand and the Sunoco gas station that I'd "take" on the way over to pump gas.

We're both right, gh: After that infamous brush w/ the Good Ol' Boyz at the Stanford Hospital, she moved on to head up the PalyVet, where my daughter worked as a Psychologist studying programs to enhance Alzheimer's patients's life. This was the early 90s. [Hard to wrangle those pesky apostrophes, eh?]