People come and go out of our lives.
Not necessarily because of death, but often we just move on to different stages of our lives.
We might follow a story in the news, or we might be into an athlete and then over time, we forget.
I thought about people, both famous and maybe even not so famous that I knew about and kinda sorta followed a little bit.
Jeez ….. what happened to them.
So I did some digging.
Like I wonder what happened to Michael “Mick” Conroy?
No Googling is allowed …..
But if you’re above the age 40, you not only know of him, but you’ve also hummed to his music.
Then again, even if you’re under the age of 40, you probably know of him and you have also hummed to his music.
I asked my 19 year old daughter if she had heard of a certain song and of course she had.
You have to read ‘til the end of this post to find out this famous person that you know of and his music.
Quite the cliff hanger huh ……
Well, in no particular order, I wondered about where these people are now. And yes, I did Google. See, I had to.
I’ll number them just to separate them to make it easier for you to follow.
You’re welcome in advance.
*Side Note 1 – See, BecauseJimSays cares deeply about my reading audience.
1 Michael Conroy – we’ll get to him
2 Zola Budd. Yup, you remember her. She was the barefoot runner from South Africa that got into a collision with Mary Decker in the 1984 Los Angelos Olympics. Zola was an accomplished track runner, she did break the world record in the women’s 5000 meter run, she also won the World Cross Country Championships. She got married and she and her family moved to South Carolina in 2008 where she continued running, competing in marathons and even ultramarathons. She moved back to South Africa in 2020. Me, she wasn’t my favorite. I wasn’t an admirer of her style of racing. She’s now 58 years old and living, and I’m sure still racing, in South Africa.
3 Ron Palillo. He made it. He struggled to find work as an actor, but then, BOOM!!! – hit it big with a big role in Welcome Back Kotter that ran for 5 seasons. Ron was Arnold Horshack. After Welcome Back Kotter, Ron struggled to find work. He did have recurring roles on The Love Boat and on The A-Team, but stardom after the sitcom eluded him. Ron was a graduate of The University of Connecticut and taught drama there after his television career. He also taught acting at the prestigious G-Star School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, Florida. In interviews he revealed his role of Arnold Horshack was based on the kid that he was in high school. Sadly, Ron died of a heart attack in 2012, he was 63 years old.
4 Julie Dawn Cole grew into being one of the most iconic actresses of her time. Jeez, she even had a rock band named after her. She got her 1st acting job when she was 12 years old and celebrated her 13th birthday on the set singing her big solo number, “I Want it Now”. Yes, Julie Dawn Cole was the original Veruca Salt. In fact, at premier of “Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory”, she was chosen from the cast to present a bouquet of flowers to Princess Margaret. She kept busy acting, though almost entirely in England. On the personal side, she married in 1991, had two children and divorced in 2002. Now 67, she retired from acting in 2013 and began her career as a psychotherapist. And yes, there is a rock band named “Veruca Salt”.
5 In the 1980s few stories captured national attention much like Baby Jessica, you know, “The Girl in the Well”. When she was 18 months old Jessica McClure fell into a well in her aunt’s backyard and was trapped 22 feet underground. It took rescuers 58 hours to dig a parallel shaft to reach her. Her injuries were not life threatening, she had a cut on her forehead and she did have to have a toe amputated due to infection. Now 36, she works as a landscape laborer and lives in Midland Texas with her husband Danny and their 2 children.
6 Britt Gaston and Cliff Courtenay – you know these two guys right? Sure you do. You’ve seen them many times. I have many favorite runners from the 1980s and 1970s. And these two take the cake. Even though they aren’t really runners at all. It was April 8, 1974 and Britt, Cliff and two other friends went to a ball game. Britt and Cliff had something in mind, something special planned for that night. Hank Aaron was poised to break the career home run record and these two guys were ready to help him celebrate. They informed his friends they were going to do it and on his 1st at bat, they made their way to the railing, but no home run so they went back to their seats. On his 2nd at bat, magic happened and Aaron hit the record breaking homerun and Britt and Cliff hopped the railing and caught up to Aaron as he rounded 2nd base and joined him for a few strides. Both Cliff and Britt were prepared to go to jail as a price for their antics, and the pregame announcement had been made warning attendees that anyone going onto the field would be sent to jail. It was a dangerous situation, as Aaron had been receiving multiple death threats for weeks and armed security guards were around Aaron’s family in the stands. As Aaron approached 3rd base, both left him and tried to get back into the stands to avoid security. They didn’t make it. Cliff was caught as he tried to get into the stands, while Britt made into the stands, trying to blend into the still standing and cheering crowd when we was grabbed by security about 10-12 rows up.
But where are they now…. Hank Aaron, Britt and Cliff joined together again in 2011 where they signed baseballs for charity. Aaron and Cliff both signed a baseball and gave it to Britt as he had been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year and his health was deteriorating. Britt died of cancer in September 2011. Aaron died in 2021 and Cliff continues to speak in high praise of Aaron to this day. In their professional lives, Britt Gaston became a successful businessman and Cliff Courtney became an optometrist. As a result of the event on the field, both received a fine of $100; their sentences were suspended after Aaron assisted and then later helped in getting the charges dropped.
7 You’ve been so patient …. So now let’s get to Michael Conroy. As I alluded to, you’ve assuredly heard him and his music. I’m even confident you’ve hummed to his bass playing. Michael Conroy was the bass player for Modern English and he played bass in “I Melt With You”. There’s a part near the end of the song where Vocalist Robbie Grey humms to the bass guitar of Michael Conroy – and like you, I hum to the song as well. . The band has broken up and joined again several times for reunion tours and to celebrate their songs and album’s anniversaries. And Michael is still touring and playing bass.
I’ll leave it at 7 – it’s a nice number to stop at.
Yes, I have others – STAY TUNED !!!
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