1980 Bringing Lynn Home In Taiwan

As we walked in the front door—me carrying a box of supplies,
and Mary carrying the baby—Woody had his camera and caught the moment

The Bences and Woodmans got into a routine of playing mahjong Sunday afternoons at our house, with gin and tonics. During one such sesson, the phone rang, a rare occurrence. Mary answered; it was a fellow American acquaintance. “The priest wants to meet with Steve and me,” she said. “They don’t have a phone at the church.”

“You two must be in deep trouble,” Woody joked. “You better go; we’ll wait here until you get back.”

1986 The Most Romantic Thing I Did

Two hours after leaving Mary’s hospital room on my mission,
I returned with a bottle of gin, a gift, in hand.

A co-worker asked what had been the most romantic thing I’d ever done for Mary. I didn’t have an answer.

So that evening I asked her, “What’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever done for you?”

“You?” She laughed. “I don’t know. The first thing that comes to mind is when you went to get me a sandwich when I was in the Busan Hospital.”

1998 Tom Cruise - Movie Premiere

Tom Cruise at the August 1998 Without Limits movie premiere in Eugene, Oregon
Mary and Cory Bence, on the left, "photo bombed" the picture

In late August 1998, a premiere for Without Limits was held in Eugene, delayed a year to distance itself from the other Prefontaine movie, which released in 1997; Warner Brothers wanted to wait for its own moment in the sun. Cruise was greeted by swarms of screaming fans.

On September 8, 1998, the main premiere was set for the Mann Theater in Los Angeles; Marckx, Mary, and I packed our formal wear and flew to L.A. There was a large turnout, including many celebrities we recognized: Jenna Elfmann, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Kevin Bacon. We were invited to the party afterwards, for which we decided to arrive fashionably late and disappear into the crowd to people-watch.

As we checked in at the desk, hoping our names were actually on the list, a support staff member recognized Marckx.

#1 New Book Release for Track & Field

Ha! The final version will be available on September 15. This version (don't order yet!) is the "proof" so there will be many final edits before next week.

Note this category is  > Sports and Outdoors > Other Team Sports > Track and Field.

1972 - The Book

I've written a book which will be available soon.

More info as I go through the process.

1974 Europe

I won this 800 meter race in Finland. Pre asked me to put white tape over AAU.

Tensions roiled track and field during the 1970s -- sports officials making money on the backs of amateurs, athletes forbidden from capitalizing on their skill.

Prefontaine challenged the system, starting with the US governing body, the AAU.

HTC Interview

T-Wrecks at PTC Awards Ceremony (I'm in the middle bent at the knees)

I will be interviewed at the Thirst Thursday event for HTC/PTC.

Joan Bence 90th Birthday

My mother turned 90 on May 31, 2019.

Email from Joan

Hi Steve and Mary,

 

A while back Greg was surprised to get an e-mail from his only granddaughter, Laren. I then contacted her by e-mail to tell her how happy I was about that and to suggest she write letters for snail mail because that is an easier way for him to get mail. With e-mails, he has to be taken to a place where computers are.