—3— Book Club: ‘Wuthering Heights’ The RAPS Book Club will meet on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 1:30 p.m. at the home of Dez Roberts, 2610 SW 84th Ave. Contact her at 503-292-6095 or at dezrob@ comcast.net to RSVP and for directions. We will discuss Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. Although many of us read it earlier in our lives, we were tempted to revisit Wuthering Heights after a character in Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society referred to it. If you want to read further ahead, we will be reading Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson for November. —Maxine Thomas Writers Group: Accepting new members A small number of RAPS members who like to write has met monthly for the past two years. If you are interested and would like to know more about the group, please leave your name with Mimi BernalGraves, RAPS office manager, at 503-725-3447, or e-mail her at raps@pdx.edu. BridgeGroup: Deals on Oct. 13 Our next meeting will be at 1:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Willamette View, 12705 SE River Road, Portland. If you have questions or need information about the group, please call me at 503-292-0838. —Colin Dunkeld Hikers: Short hike on the Wilson Our next hike will be on Friday, Oct. 23. Meet in front of the DMV office in the Cedar Hills Shopping center near Highways 217 and 26. From there we will carpool to the Tillamook State Forest Interpretive Center on the Wilson River in the Coast Range. We will spend time viewing the educational displays at the center and then take a short hike along the Wilson River Trail. The center demonstrates the forest’s recovery from the devastating Tillamook Burn. Confirm your attendance for the Oct. 23 hike with Larry Sawyer, 503-771-1616 or larry_sawyer@ comcast.net, by Thursday, Oct. 22. —Larry Sawyer RAPS club reports In memoriam: Loyal ’Sharkey’ Nelson Loyal “Sharkey” Nelson died August 22, 2009, in Seal Beach, California, at age 96 following hip replacement surgery. Our old friend Sharkey, longest-tenured Vikings men’s basketball coach, compiled a 162-156 record during the 12 seasons—1953 to 1965—that he reigned over the program. After relinquishing court duties, Sharkey resumed classroom teaching before returning to PSU athletics in 1975-76 to coach a beginning women’s basketball program. That team achieved a 19-13 record, thereby launching another highly successful—and enduring— PSU athletic component. In 1931, during the Great Depression, Sharkey, an Oklahoma farm boy, entered Cameron State Agricultural College, arranging to defray board and room fees by bringing a family cow to the college and daily furnishing three gallons of milk. At Cameron he acquired the nickname “Sharkey” after breaking his thumbs in a boxing match. The bandages resembled shark fins! After an arduous year at CSAC, he transferred to Central State Teachers College in Edmond, where a friend provided lodging—thereby relieving Sharkey of milking duties. In 1936 he graduated from Central, where he excelled in basketball and track, and married fellow student Della Lee Morris. Sharkey taught and coached in several Oklahoma high schools before entering wartime naval service. In 1946 he earned a master’s degree at Oklahoma State and later coached high school teams in Oklahoma and Oregon. In 1953 Sharkey became PSU’s pioneering basketball coach. Indeed, his legacy was to lay the foundation for today’s Portland State sports programs. In 2001 the PSU Athletics Hall of Fame inducted Sharkey into membership, and a year later honored his son, John, whose 2,123 points rank second in all-time PSU scoring. According to Michael Schrunk, Multnomah County district attorney, who was a hustling 1960s Viking guard and captain and who carried out a lifetime correspondence with his former coach, Sharkey “was very passionate, loved talking basketball, (and) loved to hear from people he coached.” Those of us fortunate enough to have known Sharkey, a marvelously intelligent, thoughtful, cheerful, and caring person, have been enriched by that experience. Della Lee preceded her husband in death. Our organization extends its heartfelt condolences and gratitude to the son that Sharkey always referred to as “Johnnie.” — Victor C. Dahl, Professor Emeritus of History
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