Many of us recognize Scott Hamilton, the professional figure skater. Most of us remember Scott Hamilton the Olympian. I’m one of the much smaller number who was fortunate to see him skate during his teen years.
I attended (and am a proud graduate of) Bowling Green State University. Scott grew up at Bowling Green as his adopted father was a biology professor at the university. And yes, Dr. Hamilton was one of my professors for a portion of freshman biology.
As an avid Falcon hockey fan, we were treated (between periods, once a year) to a skating exhibition by a young townie who had won many competitions. Yes, that was my introduction to Scott Hamilton; so it’s been a pleasure following his career.
Recently I saw an interview with Scott on the Today show as he’s promoting his new book: The Great Eight: How to be Happy (Even When You Have Every Reason to be Miserable). We know Olympic Gold Metal winner, the skating commentator, and professional performer, but Scott Hamilton faced medical obstacles throughout his life. Yet he remains positive and full of life.
He focuses the book on the eight secrets for dealing with challenges. I haven’t read the book, but this is a great interview with a positive message and also humor. If the book is anything like his personality, it’s got to be a great read.
Here are three links: the Today show interview (7 minutes), a written interview from years ago at the Academy of Achievement, and the book on Amazon.
A Frank Angle 
Afrank, my mom loved i mean loved this kid on the ice!! she was a huge fan of figure skating especially him!!
i’ll have to check the book out, THANK YOU!
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CK … and the kid is now 50! I’m sure there’s someone out there who doesn’t like, but he is easy to cheer! Just seeing him always takes me back to the campus days.
By the way … surely you didn’t miss the Joe the Plumber reference yestserday … actually meant for you! LOL
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First off, I’m not a skating fan, but I know of Scott Hamilton. One of my best on-line friends, who moved to the U.S. from Amsterdam and was a field hockey coach, loves ice skating. And he was my first friend on SN, too. I’ll forward this to him.
I always love hearing about people who have tough adversity to deal with, but will find nothing but positive things to say and will make no excuses about it.
I’ve always said to my real-life friends that anyone can be positive when things are going good for them. But the true testament to a person is how they handle themselves when things are otherwise bad. I don’t think I need to say that Hamilton is an example of good human being.
Nice post Frank.
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David … I know you enjoy positive human interest stories – especially in a daily world with so much negative news. If you didn’t see the interview, it’s a good one. He gives a very funny description of himself.
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i guess i did , LOL….joe the plumber & his 15 minutes of fame……someone go ahead & tell me that man was not paid by McCain ………lol!
50, wow!! i bet you he still skates just as beautiful as always!
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Scott Hamilton, was an amazing skater…He probably still is….His upbeat attitude through everything has always amaxed me…I had the chance to see him speak one time to a group at the Cleveland Clinic, and I was blown away.
Nice post.
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Now hearing him speaking would be a treat. Lucky you!
Thanks BEEZE!
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I apparently cannot “like” this post! Love Scotty! Type of guy you just know is truly nice and down to earth!
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For what he became, to think I saw him when he was a teen … simply amazing. Truly a class act!
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Truly!
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Always fun to look back and say … I remember when ____
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Way long ago … during the PD era … that’s Pre-Dale … I did two posts about connections to various personalities … see the top 2 posts on this search result … https://afrankangle.wordpress.com/?s=scott+hamilton&submit=Search\
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