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Joanie Weston, Roller Derby Queen

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to...@fred.net

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May 12, 1997, 3:00:00 AM5/12/97
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: From the Wash Post:
:
: Joanie Weston, the "Blonde Bomber" who began in the Roller Derby in the
: 1950s and was named to the Roller Derby all-star team 19 consecutive
: times, becoming known as the "Roller Derby Queen", died May 10 in Hayward
: California. She was 62.

She also was known as the "epic heroine of the game" who dressed the part.

Roller Derby itself lasted from 1935 to 1973, with its heyday on TV in the
50s and 60s.

--
To...@Fred.Net
http://www.fred.net/tomr

Denise Perry

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May 16, 1997, 3:00:00 AM5/16/97
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In article <5l71ub$8fj$5...@news.fred.net> to...@fred.net ( ) writes:
>From: to...@fred.net ( )
>Subject: Joanie Weston, Roller Derby Queen
>Date: 12 May 1997 12:20:27 GMT

Sorry to hear about Joanie, she was always my favorite. Saw her in a Roller
Derby appearance at the SIU Arena (Auditorium?) in 1971 or 72. Watched the
Derby for years on TV. Let's see, there was Ronnie Robinson (Sugar Ray's
son), the names are all escaping me now -- Ann Calvello (Weston's nemesis),
Margie Laszlo (?), the married "sweetheart" couple, -- HEY! It was more fun
to watch than wrestling!


Denise Perry WILL Radio
Internet: dpe...@uiuc.edu 810 S. Wright St. Rm 228
Phone: (217) 333-0850 Urbana, IL 61801

"We're public broadcasting; we put the 'fun' in dysfunctional!"
- PBS President Ervin Duggan

K GRAVE33

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May 17, 1997, 3:00:00 AM5/17/97
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Dynamite Mike Gammon and Judy Mcguire(?)
Charly O
Bob Hein the Bald Eagle
Bob Woodbury
Killer Roscoe or was it Gil Aroscoe
Tony Roman
Carol Peanuts Meyer

Denise Perry

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May 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM5/22/97
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In article <19970517154...@ladder02.news.aol.com> kgra...@aol.com (K GRAVE33) writes:
>From: kgra...@aol.com (K GRAVE33)
>Subject: Re: Joanie Weston, Roller Derby Queen
>Date: 17 May 1997 11:44:28 GMT

Yes, I was trying to remember Mike Gammon and Judy McGuire and Tony Roman
and Carol Meyer.

It was Gil Arosco.

Dug out my Roller Derby program yesterday from my memories box to look up
pictures of Joanie, Nick Scopas, and Jan Vallow because of NPR story
below.


NPR had a great tribute to Joanie from Frank Deford yesterday morning.
About how a big, athletic woman like Joanie, with no real opportunities
in the '50s, goes where she can go -- to Roller Derby -- and becomes
the "Golden Girl." Roller Derby dies out and she opens a bar, breeds (or
was it grooms?) prize-winning dogs, and teaches old ladies to paint.
Former teammates Jan Vallow and Nick Scopas are divorcing and Jan tells
Nick to go look up Joanie. Joanie and Nick marry, live happily until last
year when Joanie starts having brain problems. Doctors think it's
Alzeiheimer's, but it works too fast. Nick is battling the doctors and
insurance companies to get Joanie treatment. Turns out it was Creutzvelt
Jakov (sp?) disease (the one that's like Mad Cow Disease). Nick finally
has to pull the plug. Jan Vallow was a pall bearer.

Last year, before the illness struck, Joanie was still active -- playing
softball in a senior Olympics game.

She'll be missed!

vtsul...@aol.com

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May 24, 1997, 3:00:00 AM5/24/97
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In article <dperry.575...@uiuc.edu>,

Actually, I remember reading a book by Frank Deford about Roller Derby.
It was written in the 60's while Roller Derby was still popular and
before he became well known. It was called something like "Five Strides
on the Banked Track". Does anyone know where I could get my hands on a
copy of it? My recollections of Roller Derby and of that book were that,
although the game was coreographed, there was enough apparent athletic
competition to make a child like me believe it was "real". In any event,
the Roller Derby that I remember, including all the skaters listed above
and other skaters for the Pioneers, Bombers, Chiefs and Jolters, looked a
lot more real than the "Roller Games" offered by the L.A. T-Birds.

-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet

Louis Epstein

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May 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM5/25/97
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Brad Ferguson (thir...@frXOXed.net) wrote:
: In article <dperry.575...@uiuc.edu>, dpe...@uiuc.edu (Denise Perry)
: wrote:
:
: > NPR had a great tribute to Joanie from Frank Deford yesterday morning.

: > About how a big, athletic woman like Joanie, with no real opportunities
: > in the '50s, goes where she can go -- to Roller Derby -- and becomes
: > the "Golden Girl." Roller Derby dies out and she opens a bar, breeds (or
: > was it grooms?) prize-winning dogs, and teaches old ladies to paint.
: > Former teammates Jan Vallow and Nick Scopas are divorcing and Jan tells
: > Nick to go look up Joanie. Joanie and Nick marry, live happily until last
: > year when Joanie starts having brain problems. Doctors think it's
: > Alzeiheimer's, but it works too fast. Nick is battling the doctors and
: > insurance companies to get Joanie treatment. Turns out it was Creutzvelt
: > Jakov (sp?) disease (the one that's like Mad Cow Disease). Nick finally
: > has to pull the plug. Jan Vallow was a pall bearer.
:
:
: Creutzfeldt-Jacob. It's extremely rare and always fatal. Appropriate of
: nothing, it's the disease all the down-home cannibals were catching in the
: X-FILES episode "Our Town," the one about the chicken-processing plant.

-Jakob,I think...it also claimed George Balanchine.

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