I (heart) Bowman the Showman
My sis called this morning to tell me about our sad loss of Christopher Bowman (aka "Bowman the Showman"), one of my all-time favorite figure skaters. He was at the height of his amateur career during my adolescent years as a competitive figure skater. While I never aspired to the national, world or Olympic level myself (call me a realist), I certainly admired those who made it there and made it great to watch. Christopher was one of those. My sister and I were recently recalling how we met him backstage in the early '90s, during a tour of skating champions at the Met Center. He was all smiles and flirtation and, of course, there was that tantalizing bad-boy devil tattoo on one bicep.
You'll find pictures online of his more recent years, looking less-than-fit, and hear about his troubles with drugs and the law. But I prefer to remember his as he is pictured at left and as I met him - flashy, flirty, and fast.
Comments
Good post, S -- And, I echo your sentiments. I will never forget seeing him at Nationals, too (the same year Tonya Harding got "BIG"... and what a disaster that turned out to be!). My favorite memory of Chris that I will always have is calling out to him backstage at the Tour and asking him to sign my program. I remember Dad looking at me like, Such an Erin! You can guts to yell at him!... Chris turned and looked over his shoulder and said, "I'll be right back!..." Now I know that he never will. What a talent wasted, but we have the memories!
Posted by: Erin | January 11, 2008 11:19 PM