Mountain Views News          Saturday, November 10, 2012

14

SPORTS

 Mountain Views News Saturday, November 10, 2012 

SPEAKING OF: JOHN SCHULIAN


PASADENA, Calif. — Allendale Branch Library is launching 
“Speaking Of,” a new series of quarterly programs which will explore 
the lives and creative journeys of Pasadena’s most enduring artistic 
and cultural figures – people who have left an indelible impression 
on the artistic and cultural landscape of Pasadena and beyond. 


The inaugural program will examine the forty-year career of one 
of the country’s preeminent sportswriters, John Schulian. It will 
be held on Saturday, November 10 at 2 p.m. at Allendale Branch 
Library, 1130 S. Marengo Ave. 


Schulian burst to prominence in the 1970s as a nationally 
syndicated columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and added to his 
reputation with freelance stories for such magazines as GQ and Sports Illustrated. In the 
mid-‘80s, he surprised readers and colleagues by jumping to Hollywood, where he broke 
into TV with a script for L.A. Law and went on to write and produce such series as Miami 
Vice, Wiseguy, and JAG. His most recognizable show business achievement, however, was 
co-creating Xena: Warrior Princess, which became the world’s most popular syndicated 
drama. And yet through it all he kept his hand in sports writing, out of love for the business 
and devotion to the written word.

“Speaking Of: John Schulian” offers an opportunity to explore the craft of sports writing with 
one of our most gifted storytellers and wordsmiths. “John Schulian ranks high among the 
best sports journalists of our time,” author John Ed Bradley has remarked. “His stories are 
clean and muscular and filled with swift, poetic turns. I’ve often wondered if the subjects of 
his stories realized how privileged they were to have him telling their tales. Great ballplayers 
come and go, but there has been only one Schulian.” The discussion, punctuated by video 
clips of various events and athletes he covered, will touch upon moments of triumph and 
heartache from baseball, football, basketball, horse racing, and the sport whose battles and 
combatants inspired some of Schulian’s most memorable writing: professional boxing. Video 
highlights will include the 1985 middleweight championship bout between Marvelous Marvin 
Hagler and Thomas Hearns (“the single most electrifying event I covered in any sport”), and 
the 1980 heavyweight championship match in which Larry Holmes dismantled an aging 
Muhammad Ali (“the saddest night I ever saw in sports . . . it was like covering an execution”). 
A Pasadena resident, Schulian will also sign copies of his recently-published anthology, 
Sometimes They Even Shook Your Hand: Portraits of Champions Who Walked Among Us. 


For more information, contact Shauna Redmond at (626) 744-7260 or sredmond@
cityofpasadena.net.

JOE TALAMO, A WINNER ON AND 
OFF THE TRACK By Joan Schmidt

 Last Wednesday, the Breeders Cup came to Ralph’s Supermarket, ARCADIA! From 
9:00-10:30 am, Jockey Joe Tamalo, who won an event in 2009 on California Flag met the public and 
graciously signed photos. There was a signing table, and behind it was a beautiful floral arrangement, 
one of the fifteen to be used for 
the Breeder Cup events and 
a poster of Joe on California 
Flag.

When Joe came into Ralph’s, 
I didn’t recognize him-he 
looked like a young kid! 
Well this twenty-two year 
old American of Italian 
descent (Great grandfather 
hails from Palermo, Sicily) 
was born and raised in New 
Orleans. His first time on 
the horse was at the tender 
age of six months! (His Dad 
is a trainer and introduced 
him to horses!) Joe got his 
“calling” to be a jockey in fifth 
grade. He has participated in 
events all over the country. 
Besides ARCADIA’S Santa 
Anita Park, favorites include 
Delmar in San Diego (“very 
beautiful”) and Belmont.

On a personal level, his 
girlfriend of five years, 
Elizabeth Ellis hails from 
ARCADIA- her dad, Ron is 
a trainer at Santa Anita.) Joe 
talked about his average day, which involves going to the gym and working out at the track. Joe said 
he puts in a lot of hard work and long hours. He also mentioned he has been “dabbling into boxing 
for aiding his rise.” (He has a private trainer working with him out in boxing to help his arm strength 
and conditioning.) After events at the track, Joe “likes to attend Mass at St. Rita’s in Sierra Madre.” 

Besides Joe, I met three great ladies from the Breeders Cup, Connie Russell, Emilee Ivy, and Kathryn 
Augspurger, traveling from Whittier, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Amy Elis, mother of Joe’s girlfriend 
Elizabeth, also came into Ralph’s and happily posed for a photo with him! I told her how nice he was 
and she agreed, “His parents have brought him up well.” (They were due in from Louisiana that day.)

On Saturday and Sunday, Joe didn’t win an event. When he was on Obviously, a great favorite, he 
led at first, but came in at third. However, Sunday, he won his first Southern California riding title, 
finishing atop the standings of the 24-day Santa Anita Autumn meeting.

With 37 wins, Joe became the first jockey other than Joel Rosario or Rafael Bejarano to win a riding 
title at Anta Anita, Hollywood Park or Del Mar since 2007, when Garret Gomez won at Hollywood 
Park fall meet.

Joe loves California. “I’m a Louisiana boy at heart, but bought a home here four years ago, and if 
everything fares well, I should be here a long time.”

I, for one, hope so. It was so refreshing to meet a young man who is an outstanding role model for our 
youths. He has attained fame, yet still is so friendly and unaffected. Family and his faith obviously are 
very important to him.