Today marks the 70th anniversary of Robert Wadlow's death, the world's tallest man
Hoodoo
July 15, 2010 10:23 AM
By DAN BRANNAN
The Telegraph
http://www.thetelegraph.com/news/wadlow-42595-manistee-years.html
Seventy years now have passed since Robert Wadlow, the world's tallest
man, walked the streets of Alton.
Today marks the 70th anniversary of Wadlow's death at 12:40 a.m. on July
15, 1940, in Manistee, Mich. Wadlow had been marching in a Fourth of
July parade in Manistee and suffered a foot infection that eventually
spread to the rest of this body.
Charlene Gill, one of the founders of the Alton Museum of History and
Art, which long has displayed many of Wadlow's artifacts, said Robert
still casts a "long shadow" in the community 70 years after his death.
"This hand shook Robert's hand," Gill said, pointing to her hand, proud
that she had met the "Gentle Giant" in her childhood. "We get inquiries
at the museum from all over the United States and different countries
about Robert. Robert was like a rock star when he was alive. He received
so much attention. I don't think he will ever be forgotten."
The life-size Wadlow Statue on College Avenue in Alton across from the
Alton Museum of History and Art has visitors on hand each day. People
come from around the region, but also from other states and other
countries, to visit the statue and the accompanying chair.
Steve Tassinari chaired a Rotary Club drive to build the statue in the
1980s with Ron Vanata. Tassinari still is busy in the area co-chairing
an upcoming Marquette Catholic High School capital campaign. Ned
Giberson was the artist who created the Wadlow Statue on College. Dale
and Scott Neudecker led the effort to erect the Wadlow chair at the site.
"First of all, I can't believe it," Tassinari said about the reaction to
the statue through the years. Tassinari now is retired from Xerox Corp.
in St. Louis. "I am so flabbergasted there are so many people up there
all the time. I think the statue has helped keep interest in Robert all
these years. Next year will be the 25th anniversary that the statue was
completed. I am amazed when I drive by there."
Tassinari said Wadlow had good human values that we all should admire
and live up to today.
"Robert was a good son, good student, aspired to go to college and did
go to college, and was an ambassador for Alton," he said.
Charlene Johnson, of the Alton Museum, said Robert certainly is Alton's
favorite citizen of all time.
"There are a lot of people here who graduated with him from Alton High
and knew him," she said. "One woman came in and said she was always
afraid Robert would step on her, but he always assured her he wouldn't.
Most of the people go to the Wadlow display first at the museum."
David Kulp of the Alton Museum has a special exhibit about Wadlow on
display now.
Gene Crivello, of Alton, was a good friend of Robert Wadlow when the
world's tallest man used to visit Downtown Alton.
"I played with him at the YMCA on the basketball court, and we swam
together," Crivello said. "In basketball, he towered over all of us.
After we chose sides, we would position Robert under the basket, and he
would drop the ball in the hoop. I think Robert Wadlow was the
originator of the slam dunk. He would stand with one arm on the
backboard and use his other arm to catch the ball and drop it in the
basket."
When Wadlow entered the swimming pool at the old Alton YMCA, Crivello
said the people around him were extremely careful.
"When he was standing in 7 to 8 feet of water, we had to be careful
around him," Crivello said. "No one would dare any tomfoolery business.
If he lost his balance, he would have drowned. There is no way we could
have saved him."
Crivello believes Robert Wadlow is one of the things Alton is known for
all over the country, along with Fast Eddie's on Broadway.
"I wish Robert had lived a long life," Crivello said. "Robert's greatest
wish is that he be like (pilot Charles) Lindbergh. He also loved to take
pictures. Robert was just as kind as he could be. He was someone who put
Alton on the map."
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Hoodoo
By Chad Garrison, Thu., Jul. 15 2010 @ 11:18AM
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2010/07/robert_wadlow_tallest_man_to_ever_live_died_70_years_ago_today_alton.php
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/350px-Robert_Wadlow.jpg
Wadlow standing next to his father.
Born a normal-sized baby in Alton in 1918, Robert Wadlow stood at 5' 6"
by the age of five and 6' 5" by the age of 10 and nearly nine feet tall
(8' 11") by the time he died on July 15, 1940.
An overactive pituitary gland prompted his tremendous growth and would
eventually contribute to his death at the age of 22. Forced to wear leg
braces to support his brittle bones, Wadlow was walking in a 4th of July
parade in Michigan when he got a blister from one of his braces that
produced an infection and fever.
He was returned to his hometown in southwestern Illinois for burial.
Forty thousand people came to the visitation and funeral -- events that
the Alton Telegraph recalls today as the most well-attended gatherings
in the city's history.
Check out a video of Alton's "Gentle Giant"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yDvpkgK3zo