Additional Memories of Leon Patterson

I was very pleased to read your story of Leon Patterson (April 30). It brought back some distant memories of what a great athlete he really was. However, I have to make two comments on his breaking the 60-foot mark in the shotput.

First, not only was Leon the first to break the 60-foot mark for the 12-pound high school shot, he was the first in any class, high school, college or open, to break 60 feet. At that time, the 60-foot mark was as large as the four-minute mile.

Second, the first time Leon broke 60 feet was not at the Kern County Relays, it was at the West Coast Relays at Ratcliffe Stadium in Fresno. I was a junior college student doing a tape-delayed remote broadcast of the meet for KTKR, the local radio station in Taft. I was in the stands interviewing Amos Alonzo Stagg of football fame when he broke the record.

There were a lot of exciting events taking place that Saturday with 1952 being an Olympic year. But the one I remember 39 years later was Leon Patterson’s shot sailing ever so far.

HERB SPENCER

Calabasas