[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 146 (Tuesday, September 27, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6131-S6132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
TRIBUTE TO JOHN HOMER CALDWELL
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to briefly call the Senate's
attention to a Vermonter who, more than any other individual, has been
responsible for the sport of cross-country skiing becoming a winter
pastime and passion for countless Americans of all ages. I count myself
and my wife, Marcelle, among them.
There have been many articles written about former Olympic combined
skier John Caldwell of Putney, VT, who in 1964 wrote the how-to guide
to cross-country skiing, and about his sons and daughter and
granddaughter Sophie and grandson Patrick, each of them outstanding
cross-country skiers in their own right, two of whom, son Tim and
Sophie, have represented the United States at the winter Olympics.
Chances are they are not going to be the last Vermonters with the
Caldwell name to do so.
I will not repeat what those articles have said, but I ask unanimous
consent that one of them, published in the Rutland Herald on February
23, 2014, entitled ``Vt. ski pioneer sustains Olympic spirit,'' be
printed in the Record at the end of my remarks. It gives you a pretty
good idea of the 87-year-old Vermonter I am talking about.
John Caldwell, known to his many friends as Johnny, is a pioneer and
legend in every sense of the words. After the 1952 Olympics, he
embarked on a lifelong campaign to teach and coach others to enjoy the
sport of cross-country skiing as he did, whether as a simple way to get
out in wintertime and experience the snow-filled woods and fields of
Vermont or to ski competitively. I think it is fair to say that just
about every cross-country skier in this country, from the fastest
racers to the recreational ski tourers like me and Marcelle, owes our
love of the sport, directly or indirectly, to Johnny. He got us
started. He convinced us to not be deterred by up hills or down hills
or subfreezing temperatures and to get outside and enjoy a sport that
requires nothing more than a pair of narrow skis and poles, a bit of
wax, and a love of using your own power to glide silently over the
snow.
Johnny has a way with words, and the Rutland Herald article captures
a bit of it. He is dry wit who doesn't suffer fools easily, a fiercely
loyal Vermonter who I think it is fair to assume finds a lot to like in
the words of Robert Frost, whose poem ``New Hampshire,'' a long poem
that compares the people, geography, and traditions of various States,
ends with these lines:
``Well, if I have to choose one or the other,
I choose to be a plain New Hampshire farmer
With an income in cash of, say, a thousand
(From, say, a publisher in New York City).
It's restful to arrive at a decision,
And restful just to think about New Hampshire.
At present I am living in Vermont.''
There is a lot more I could say about John Caldwell, who besides
coaching and writing about skiing, among other things taught
mathematics for 35 year at the Putney School, has been a longtime
gardener and wood splitter and for years was a tireless maker of maple
syrup.
But most important are his personal qualities: a devoted husband to
his wife, Hester, affectionately known to everyone as ``Hep,'' who he
first met at the Putney School 75 years ago; a role model for his
children and grandchildren in good times and sad times; an inspiration
to everyone who puts on boots and skis and propels themselves forward
in all kinds of weather; and an octogenarian who will be out on skis
for years to come, even if it is just to cheer on others a fraction his
age, who has contributed in exceptional and lasting ways to the sport
of skiing, to the Putney community, to Vermont, and to this country.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Rutland Herald, Feb. 23, 2014]
Vt. Ski Pioneer Sustains Olympic Spirit
(By Kevin O'Connor)
John Caldwell, the Vermonter who literally wrote the book
on cross-country skiing 50 years ago--his trailblazing 1964
how-to guide reaped the Boston Globe rave ``the bible of the
sport''--stopped writing updated editions after the eighth a
quarter-century ago. Now 85, he's entitled to sleep in.
But the man considered the father of U.S. Nordic is also
the grandfather of 2014 Olympian Sophie Caldwell, 23, of the
Green Mountain town of Peru. That's why he has risen the past
two weeks before dawn to watch the third generation of his
family compete in the Winter Games.
``Despite what the governor says, and he's a Putney boy, we
don't have high-speed Internet here,'' says Caldwell, who has
been waking in the town he shares with Peter Shumlin as early
as 4 a.m., then driving to his nephew's ski shop down the
road to watch live online races from Sochi.
[[Page S6132]]
So much has changed since Caldwell himself competed in the
1952 Olympics, where a lack of television coverage required
family and friends seeking results to await the newspaper the
next day.
``That was back in the dark ages,'' he says only half-
jokingly. ``When I was racing, nobody knew much about cross-
country, and people hardly knew we were there. Everything is
much, much better than it used to be. All this ease of
communication has helped.''
Caldwell has helped, too--by turning his lowest point of
adversity into a lifetime of achievement.
Some Vermonters may remember his Oslo Winter Games as the
ones where Rutlander Andrea Mead Lawrence became the only
U.S. woman to win two skiing gold medals. But while the late
female legend experienced the thrill of victory, Caldwell
felt the agony of defeat.
``I was on the combined team--cross-country and ski
jumping--but I was poorly prepared.''
Born in Detroit in 1928, Caldwell had moved to Putney with
his family in 1941. When his high school needed a cross-
country racer for the 1946 state championships, he strapped
on his sister's wooden alpine skis. Continuing on to
Dartmouth College, he borrowed his coach's slats before the
school bought him a pair.
Caldwell tried out and made the 1952 Olympic team. But
knowing little about proper training, he toured too many
Norwegian bakeries beforehand. The onetime 145-pound athlete
weighed 170 by the time he dressed for his event. But that
wasn't why he needed help buttoning his shirt--his shoulders
ached from falling so often in practice.
The rest is history--just not Olympic history.
``That really inspired me to help better prepare athletes
so they wouldn't be so flummoxed, overwhelmed and thoroughly
thrashed.''
Caldwell started by coaching at his alma mater, the Putney
School, where he worked with such up-and-coming skiers as
Bill Koch, the first U.S. Nordic athlete to win an Olympic
medal (silver in 1976). That, in turn, led him to help the
American team in a succession of Winter Games.
Off the job, Caldwell befriended Brattleboro publishers
Stephen and Janet Greene.
``They said, `Are there any books on cross-country?' I said
no.''
Soon there was one--his simply titled ``The Cross-Country
Ski Book''--which he updated until its eighth and final
edition in 1987.
Caldwell also nurtured the sport by helping found the New
England Nordic Ski Association and by forging a family with
his wife, Hep, and their four children: Tim competed in the
Olympics in 1972, 1976, 1980 and 1984. Peter raced undefeated
in college. Jennifer made the U.S. ski team. And Sverre
coached the Americans in 1988 and fathered the latest
generation of family champions, Sophie.
John Caldwell has been waking in the dark the past two
weeks to drive to Putney's Caldwell Sport--owned by his
nephew Zach, who's assisting U.S. skiers in Russia, and wife,
Amy--to watch live Sochi races that, because of the time
difference, have started as early as 4:15 a.m.
``I'm a Luddite,'' he says, ``but I emailed Sophie before
the sprint and said, `Go fast.' ''
Caldwell then cheered her sixth-place finish (the best U.S.
women's Olympic cross-country result ever) before, a week
later, she ended up eighth in the team sprint.
Seen the way skiers collapse after a race?
``I joke with them, `Are you suffering?' I spell and say it
`s-u-f-f-a-h.' It sounds masochistic, but that's the way it
is. When you do it you hurt, but you feel great afterward--
like when you stop hitting your head against the wall. All of
us must be nuts, but it's a lifestyle, a culture.''
It's the same for the spectator back home.
``It takes me a long time to recover from these early
mornings,'' the grandfather says.
Even so, after rising this past Wednesday before dawn,
Caldwell still stayed up for his weekly 7 to 10 p.m. bridge
game. Then on Saturday, he was set to watch grandson Patrick,
a freshman at Dartmouth College, compete in the Eastern
Intercollegiate Ski Association championships in Middlebury.
The grandfather of 10 still takes a turn himself. But the
cross-country pioneer says he's going downhill fast--as an
alpine season pass holder at Stratton.
``A guy who's 88 and I go over together. It's slow getting
the strength back. I got a new hip in May and two new knees
in October. I have a plastic heart valve and fake shoulder,
too.''
So goes life. So much ``s-u-f-f-a-h-ing.'' So much
satisfaction.
``I'm bionic--and still plugging along.''
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