18.03.2005, 14:19
Gordon Solie Artikel By ALEX MARVEZ
Scripps Howard News Service
17-MAR-05
Almost five years after the death of pro wrestling's greatest announcer, Gordon Solie still has a voice.
"Gordon Solie ... Something Left Behind" is a recently published collection of poems, fiction and biographical information that shows Solie's talents weren't limited to calling action in the ring.
"From personal experience, I knew my father was an intelligent man with an exceptional vocabulary and very articulate with the spoken word," said Solie's daughter Pam Allyn, a high school teacher who spent three years compiling the book with her husband Bob. "His personal writings proved Dad could create the same vivid images with a pen that he projected through a microphone. His writings were a timeline of ups and downs throughout his life and career."
When pro wrestling still presented itself as legitimate athletic competition in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Solie was considered the industry's preeminent announcer because he adroitly described matches as sporting competition. Solie was the voice of Championship Wrestling from Florida from the promotion's inception in 1959 to its close in 1987, but he also garnered national acclaim with Georgia Championship Wrestling on TBS when the cable television industry began to blossom in the late 1970s.
Solie's last major announcing gig was with World Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s, although he remained active with various grappling-related projects until his death from brain cancer in 2000 at the age of 71.
"Dad treated the fans with respect," Pam Allyn said. "The industry people recognized his accommodating nature. Time and time again, journalists, referees, wrestlers, announcers, and executives have told me what an important role he played in their success. He was secure enough emotionally to help others starting in the business, regardless of their role."
But wrestling wasn't Solie's only passion.
Born Jonard Frank Labak in 1929, Solie's gift for gab was evident even as a Minnesota high school student. Solie worked in radio while serving in the military and continued when moving to Tampa upon his discharge in 1950.
Besides hosting local music segments, Solie began announcing stock car races and helped that sport garner publicity by writing press releases and newspaper stories. Solie's love of racing is evident through the short stories he penned that are featured in "Gordon Solie ... Something Left Behind."
The 224-page hardcover book also includes photos of memorable wrestlers as well as personal revelations. In one passage, Solie writes, "Who cares whether these thoughts of mine are ever printed? The important premise is they have been written. Whether anyone else ever reads them or not is transcended by the fact that I have expressed my own truisms."
Allyn, though, admits one of Solie's final wishes was for his work to become public.
"When my father willed his writings to me, he inferred to me that he still wanted (them) published by saying, 'You will know what to do with them,'" she said. "All the research we did allowed me to come full circle on my father's life. I saw him as a child, a rowdy teenager and as an adult filled with passion on a variety of subjects. In the process, I learned about myself. Reminiscing brought back some very fond memories and created new memories, ones that will keep him forever alive in our hearts."
"Gordon Solie ... Something Left Behind" (Florida Media, Inc.; $19.95) can be ordered at http://www.FloridaBookstore.com or at 407-816-9596.
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?ac...7-03-17-05
Scripps Howard News Service
17-MAR-05
Almost five years after the death of pro wrestling's greatest announcer, Gordon Solie still has a voice.
"Gordon Solie ... Something Left Behind" is a recently published collection of poems, fiction and biographical information that shows Solie's talents weren't limited to calling action in the ring.
"From personal experience, I knew my father was an intelligent man with an exceptional vocabulary and very articulate with the spoken word," said Solie's daughter Pam Allyn, a high school teacher who spent three years compiling the book with her husband Bob. "His personal writings proved Dad could create the same vivid images with a pen that he projected through a microphone. His writings were a timeline of ups and downs throughout his life and career."
When pro wrestling still presented itself as legitimate athletic competition in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Solie was considered the industry's preeminent announcer because he adroitly described matches as sporting competition. Solie was the voice of Championship Wrestling from Florida from the promotion's inception in 1959 to its close in 1987, but he also garnered national acclaim with Georgia Championship Wrestling on TBS when the cable television industry began to blossom in the late 1970s.
Solie's last major announcing gig was with World Championship Wrestling in the early 1990s, although he remained active with various grappling-related projects until his death from brain cancer in 2000 at the age of 71.
"Dad treated the fans with respect," Pam Allyn said. "The industry people recognized his accommodating nature. Time and time again, journalists, referees, wrestlers, announcers, and executives have told me what an important role he played in their success. He was secure enough emotionally to help others starting in the business, regardless of their role."
But wrestling wasn't Solie's only passion.
Born Jonard Frank Labak in 1929, Solie's gift for gab was evident even as a Minnesota high school student. Solie worked in radio while serving in the military and continued when moving to Tampa upon his discharge in 1950.
Besides hosting local music segments, Solie began announcing stock car races and helped that sport garner publicity by writing press releases and newspaper stories. Solie's love of racing is evident through the short stories he penned that are featured in "Gordon Solie ... Something Left Behind."
The 224-page hardcover book also includes photos of memorable wrestlers as well as personal revelations. In one passage, Solie writes, "Who cares whether these thoughts of mine are ever printed? The important premise is they have been written. Whether anyone else ever reads them or not is transcended by the fact that I have expressed my own truisms."
Allyn, though, admits one of Solie's final wishes was for his work to become public.
"When my father willed his writings to me, he inferred to me that he still wanted (them) published by saying, 'You will know what to do with them,'" she said. "All the research we did allowed me to come full circle on my father's life. I saw him as a child, a rowdy teenager and as an adult filled with passion on a variety of subjects. In the process, I learned about myself. Reminiscing brought back some very fond memories and created new memories, ones that will keep him forever alive in our hearts."
"Gordon Solie ... Something Left Behind" (Florida Media, Inc.; $19.95) can be ordered at http://www.FloridaBookstore.com or at 407-816-9596.
http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?ac...7-03-17-05