To the editor:

Recently I read in the paper about a PBS documentary on Jesse Owens, who was an Ohio State track standout and later went on and won four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.

After reading the article and seeing the PBS program, it came to mind that when I was a kid, Jesse came to Dowagiac, being known as “the brown Buckeye bullet,” and had a race against Walt Engle and his motorcycle.

I wrote about this in my 17th article of Dec. 20, 1990.

I got a letter from friend Danny Brosnan. He told me about the race, which which took place at Alumni Field.

He said it was from home plate out to a big tree past third base.

I couldn’t find Dan’s letter among all my old material I’ve saved to tell who won the race, but I, as a youngster at the time, seem to have a vague memory of this race, about a man who was billed as the world’s fastest human.

I’m sure I may hear from someone who was there.

“Cardinal Charlie” Gill
Dowagiac