…Jim Thorpe.
"Jim Thorpe, the legendary Olympic champion and all-around professional athlete, was awakened from a deep sleep by a ringing phone at two o'clock one morning during the summer of 1938. Cecelia Blanchard (Kickapoo), co-founder with Thorpe of the Indian Center in Los Angeles, was on the line with an urgent request. Could he drive over to the Center immediately and help her save a woman and her two children who were huddled on the doorstep and appeared to be near death? They looked to be starving, and their clothing consisted of a couple of torn flour sacks.
Thorpe got dressed, jumped into his black 1931 Model A Ford and drove the 11 miles from his home on 3904 104th Street in Inglewood to the Center on 7th Street. Upon his arrival outside of the brown clapboard, converted house, in a scene reminiscent of his athletic days, the now 50-year-old Thorpe sprinted up the 100 steps to the open front door and knelt down to reassure the woman, "Don't worry. We will get you some food and medicine right away." He handed Blanchard some money to cover the expense, and the two of them carried the little family down to his car for the drive to the hospital.
Blanchard invited them to spend the remainder of the night at her home where they enjoyed a bath, one of her home-cooked meals and a warm bed. By daylight, Thorpe had collected enough money for clothing and a stay at a motel. A few days later, Blanchard found them a place to live and someone to help with the children, while Thorpe secured employment for the mother in the production office of the MGM film Northwest Passage.
While known to the world as its supreme all-around athlete, Thorpe was now in the middle of a new career that left a powerful, though largely forgotten, legacy. It earned him the title Akapamata, in his Sac and Fox heritage, the word for "caregiver."---"
link
Armand
goes to sea with the Terrain Mat.
