John Curry's Home Gets Blue Plaque

CaroLiza_fan · May 20, 2017

The Birmingham Civic Society has honoured John Curry by unveiling a Blue Plaque on the house in Solihull where he was born.

http://www.thebusinessdesk.com/westmidlands/news/2003274-forgotten-local-hero-honoured-blue-plaque

And here is how a local newspaper reported it (it's essentially the same story, just edited slightly differently):

http://thebirminghampress.com/2017/05/forgoten-local-hero-honoured-with-blue-plaque/

John was nominated for the honour by Tony Timberlake, an actor who watched John winning the Olympics in 1976, and went on to write a play about him. Here is a brief synopsis of the play:

https://www.birmingham-rep.co.uk/whats-on/looking-for-john.html

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Blue Plaque Scheme, getting one is a MAJOR deal. So it is great to see Birmingham honouring it's much missed skating son in this way.

CaroLiza_fan

Ender · May 20, 2017

It's a bit sad it's quite late.

Arriba627 · May 20, 2017

So happy for John (RIP) to be getting this recognition. Whenever I see a Don Quijote program, his 1976 Olympics program comes to mind. Many thanks to the unforgettable, irreplaceable John!

Jaana · May 20, 2017

Thanks for the info! I´m very happy that he was honoured in this way, which he deserves. Yes, it is quite late, but better late than never....

CaroLiza_fan · May 20, 2017

Jaana said:
Thanks for the info! I´m very happy that he was honoured in this way, which he deserves. Yes, it is quite late, but better late than never....

Ender said:
It's a bit sad it's quite late.

I thought the same at first. But then I looked into it, and you have to be dead for 20 years before you are eligible for a Blue Plaque.

So, in essence, it only took 3 years for John to get one.

By the way, I couldn't find an appropriate thread at the time, but I should let you know that John's Mum, Rita, died last year. She was 102 years old.

It must be awful for a parent to lose their child, but they are now re-united.

CaroLiza_fan

TMC · May 20, 2017

I saw this in the news the other day and I was a bit taken aback by how many times they mentioned how he has been "forgotten". I don't think that's true. The general public may not remember him but in the figure skating world he's an absolute legend.

CaroLiza_fan · May 20, 2017

TMC said:
I saw this in the news the other day and I was a bit taken aback by how many times they mentioned how he has been "forgotten". I don't think that's true. The general public may not remember him but in the figure skating world he's an absolute legend.

I had the same reaction when I saw the headlines on the stories I linked to.

But, I suppose it is a sign of where the sport is in the public conscious in these islands. It is not so much that John Curry has been forgotten; it is that the whole sport of figure skating has been forgotten.

Ice Dance is still remembered, largely because Torvill and Dean have stayed in the public eye ever since winning the Olympics. But, Singles and Pairs skating are practically unknown now.

So, I hope that all the attention that this honour for one of the most influential Singles Skaters in the world is getting will help to raise the sport's profile amongst the general public in his home country.

CaroLiza_fan

Sam L · May 20, 2017

UK doesn't produce good skaters anymore so the sport is forgotten. But great for John, he'll always be remembered in Figure Skating.

el henry · May 20, 2017

Thank you for the article, and for explaining what a "Blue Plaque" is; otherwise I would never have known.

Even though at the time I was :dev2: and :drama:

that he was beating Toller, one of the true legends. In fact, what a year 76 was, to have two such legends at the Olys:luv17:

and I guess it's a sign of age that I didn't find it "overdue" at all. Everyone is in such a rush to crown "the greats" while they are still skating. Can't be done. Give it a few years, and you'll find out......

Heleng · May 21, 2017

CaroLiza_fan said:
I thought the same at first. But then I looked into it, and you have to be dead for 20 years before you are eligible for a Blue Plaque.

So, in essence, it only took 3 years for John to get one.

By the way, I couldn't find an appropriate thread at the time, but I should let you know that John's Mum, Rita, died last year. She was 102 years old.

It must be awful for a parent to lose their child, but they are now re-united.

CaroLiza_fan

When we visited London last year, my family and I had the best time wondering around the city looking for the Blue Plaques of great British authors. It's too bad John's mother just missed seeing him honored with it. I'm old enough to remember his Olympic gold medal performance and it remains forever embedded in my memory.

russell30 · May 23, 2017

Sam L said:
UK doesn't produce good skaters anymore so the sport is forgotten. But great for John, he'll always be remembered in Figure Skating.

I take offence to that statement, how many Olympic gold medals has Australia won....

Tallorder · May 24, 2017

Does such an honor usually take this long to be bestowed? Not familiar with this particular distinction/commemoration.

CaroLiza_fan · May 25, 2017

Tallorder said:
Does such an honor usually take this long to be bestowed? Not familiar with this particular distinction/commemoration.

As I said above, people are not eligible for a Blue Plaque until 20 years after their death. I suppose it is a way of making sure that somebody was actually really significant, rather than just a passing fad.

So, in essence, it only took John 3 years to get one. Which isn't really that long.

CaroLiza_fan

Jaana · May 25, 2017

Arriba627 said:
So happy for John (RIP) to be getting this recognition. Whenever I see a Don Quijote program, his 1976 Olympics program comes to mind. Many thanks to the unforgettable, irreplaceable John!

And this wonderful performance is from the 1976 Olympics, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xojrWqgEcCw

So great, that we have youtube!!! This performance was not shown on our tv.

Arriba627 · May 25, 2017

Baryshnikov on skates! Unbelievable! Wonder if he would have been able to skate like that if he had in the back of his mind that he had to complete 4-5 quads! Sigh....

John Curry's Home Gets Blue Plaque

CaroLiza_fan

MINIOL ALATMI REKRIS · EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

Ender

Match Penalty

Arriba627

3-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST! 🏅🏅🏅

Jaana

CaroLiza_fan

MINIOL ALATMI REKRIS · EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

TMC

CaroLiza_fan

MINIOL ALATMI REKRIS · EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

Sam L

el henry

Fangirl of men's spirals and split jumps

Heleng

russell30

Tallorder

CaroLiza_fan

MINIOL ALATMI REKRIS · EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

Jaana

Arriba627

3-TIME OLYMPIC MEDALIST! 🏅🏅🏅

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