Friday, July 17, 2009

Johnny Lujack, star quarterback for Notre Dame in the 1940s and the Chicago Bears, is the analogue on my father's side of the family to Gino Severini on my mother's: a famous if now obscure relative (this photo was on the cover of LIFE magazine), whose relationship is vague and anecdotal. My father said Lujack was a second cousin, although we never met him (at age 81, he's living in Iowa.) Anyway, he's being honored in western PA, prompting a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article that says more than I knew about him--quite a guy, and an amazing athlete in the Jim Thorpe/Jack Armstrong/George Blanda mold. I do recall checking NFL records sometime in the 70s, and he still held a few. Now he's being recognized in his hometown. Congrats, cuz.

No comments: