Roar of the Crowd

ROAR FROM THE CROWD

Together Forever

I very much enjoyed the article about the popular use of Union Bay for Husky football games (“The Greatest Setting in College Football,” Fall 2022), and I would like to share with you my family story as it relates to that body of water east of Husky Stadium and the crew shell house. My father, William L. Shannon (pictured, front left), attended the UW, majored in civil engineering, joined Beta Theta Pi fraternity, earned his “W” as a coxswain on the freshman crew and graduated in 1936. He went on to form a civil engineering firm in Seattle called Shannon and Wilson, Inc. Before he died, he created several scholarships for engineering students that today bear his name. When he died, while my two brothers and I (pictured, back row) knew that he wanted to be cremated, we did not know what he wanted done with his ashes. We asked our mom (pictured, front right), but she said that she did not know either, so it was our task to decide where and how to put his ashes. Dad was a longtime fan of the Huskies, and he and Mom had season tickets close to the 50-yard line. So, when he died in 2006, we decided to scatter his ashes in Union Bay between

the shell house and the eastern end of Husky Stadium. We rented a boat and motored across Lake Washington to scatter his ashes, content that he now could watch the Huskies play forever. When our mom died in 2018, she also had never said where she wanted her ashes scattered, so we decided to scatter hers with Dad’s, content that they both could watch the Huskies play forever. I am at peace knowing that my parents are still together forever. William N. Shannon, ’62, Peabody, Mass.

Movie Master

I wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed [Sheila Farr’s] remembrance of John Hartl (“My Friend, John Hartl,” Fall 2022). I remember always being amazed not only at John’s vast retention of movie facts but also his ability to instantly retrieve them. His response to a question about a movie would be “Which version—the original? The (name of the year) remake, or the remake of (name of the year)?” Once that was stated, the answer immediately followed. Quite incredible. Michael Cunningham, Seattle

A Must Read

One of my high school classmates ended up writing about film for the New York Daily News, and we often ran into each other at Seattle’s theaters when growing up. When I was in Seattle, I was more often writing about visual art. Hartl’s reviews were a favorite for both of us, and we learned a lot about writing about the arts from him. When the internet first got going and the nation was full of newspapers with their own film critics, you could literally read 100 reviews of a lot of movies. His were always on our “must read” list. Erik Reel, ’75, Portland

An Introverted Guy

I went to high school with John. He was a soft-spoken, somewhat introverted guy. He sat behind me in a mechanical drawing class, and we frequently critiqued the teacher. I graduated a few times from the UW and followed John’s activities during those years. We crossed paths a couple of times at KUOW and classic KING-FM. I was saddened to hear of his passing. Fred C. Schmidt, ’70, ’71, ’75, Kingston

Fallen Huskies

In response to our piece on 9/11 and 9/12 (“Huskies in Our Hearts,” Fall 2022 Online), Julie Thomas wrote, “I was on the sister Husky cruise ship and remember the shock, disbelief and horror we felt when we heard of the terrible plane crash taking the lives of our fellow Husky fans. We were still trying to process the events of Sept. 11 while we were in Cozumel, and this news was just as devastating to us at the time. I’ll never forget all the lives that were lost on those two horrible days.” Catherine Stevens wrote, “What a sad time ... we were getting ready to leave on the Husky alumni airline trip to the Miami game ... not only the horror of 9/11, but then the loss of friend Geoff Vernon and his wife, Judy, who were killed on the Husky cruise flight sightseeing trip. Such a sad week.”

Alula’s Legacy

In response to our story on Dream Project founder Alula Asfaw (“It Begins With a Dreamer,” Fall 2022), Monica Barnett wrote: “You are inspiring me to share and start my program for UW students, too!”

For more great UW content Go Online

magazine.uw.edu

FARIS AS HEIRESS

Anna Faris plays a scheming niece attempting to earn her wealthy aunt’s inheritance in “The Estate.”

QUINN RUSSELL BROWN

ANDY KONIECZNY/ADOBE STOCK

MOUNTAIN MAN

John E. Kurnick spent some of his favorite moments thousands of feet above sea level.

HUSKIES ON HULU

We’ve rounded up small screen appearances from Huskies like Kyle MacLachlan, Julia Sweeney, Rainn Wilson and more.

DAVID SHANKBONE