Curtis Read, The Gatorman
When The 70s
Then
Curtis Read as Gatorman,
circa 1970's.
While most visit the Swamp to root for the Gators, Curtis Read went
to swim with them. Identifiable by his white Army helmet emblazoned
with “Gatorman,” the 6-foot, 150-pound Read would strip
to his skivvies, dive into Lake Alice and swim on the back of Albert
the Alligator.
“ He used to love it when I popped marshmallows in his mouth,”
he says of the 8-foot, half-ton reptile.
Sadly, Albert died after swallowing a bottle and choking—Read
was by his side in the final moments.|
“ He died in my arms during surgery,” Read says, his voice
catching. “People who have been close to animals know it’s
like losing a family member. I’ll miss him.”
Curtis Read as a mannequin,
circa 2000's
Now
Today Read lives a quiet life in Apple Valley, Calif. with his wife
and two children where he’s earned a new nickname—The
Human Mannequin.
“ When I was in Gainesville, I used to hang out at the Oaks
Mall like a fly on the wall,” he says. “One day someone
mistook me for a mannequin. That got me thinking, and I developed
the skill from there.”
To become a mannequin, Read lowers his blood pressure, stops his body
from swallowing and stands dead still. The blood drains from his face,
creating a mannequin-like texture. “My heart beats so slow that
I should actually be dead,” he says.
His mannequin act has taken him all over Europe and Asia, and he has
performed for Hugh Hefner and Zsa Zsa Gabor, earning up to $75 an
hour.
But, no matter how far Read travels he Gainesville is never far from
his heart. “It’s incredible, no matter where I go in the
world, someone always comes up to me and says, ‘Hey…Gatorman!’”
by Darren Wendroff
Dr. Robert James Cade, Gatorade Inventor
When 1965
Then
Truth be told, Dr. Robert James Cade invented Gatorade because
football players couldn’t pee.
“
A football player came up to me and asked, ‘Why can’t
I wee wee during football games?’” Cade recalls. “That
got me thinking, and my lab started doing studies on what losing
huge amounts of water did to the human body.”
Cade’s lab identified key fluids lost during exercise and developed
a formula of sodium, potassium and nitrate to replenish those fluids,
and they used it for the first time in a key game versus the LSU
Tigers.
The conference powerhouse dominated UF in the first half, but the
Gators stormed back in the 102-degree heat to beat the Tigers in
the fourth quarter.
Gatorade became a soft drink and medical phenomena, prompting the
World Health Organization to vote it the most important advance in
medicine of the 20th century.
Now Today he still goes to his lab every morning and. He says he
can’t imagine retirement. "There's still so many projects
to work on."
His latest is developing a dietary treatment for children with autism,
Down's syndrome and schizophrenia, which"might be bigger than
Gatorade, if it works."
He adds, “The invention of Gatorade was a result of everything
I had done and learned up to that point. It changed how I solve problems.”
by Darren Wendroff
Eddie Shannon, 1998 UF Point Guard
When 1998
Then
Cruising toward a 14–3 record, the second best single season
in O’Connell Center history, UF point guard Eddie Shannon led
the 1998 Gators in minutes played and finished his career as UF’s
all-time leader in steals with 204.
However, Shannon made headlines not only for his records but also
for his personal victories. He suffered from diminishing vision in
his right eye from an accident in the seventh grade. He played with
one eye throughout his career, but the condition did not hinder his
playing.
“ I just would like for the fans to know that I went and played
hard each and everyday for the Gators,” Shannon says.
The West Palm Beach, Fla. native ranks in UF’s all-time top
20 in 19 categories and in the top 10 in 10 categories. After all
the wins, Shannon says his most memorable moment at UF was graduating.
“ When I walked across the stage in the O’Dome and shook
Dr. Lombardi’s hand and received my degree, that was truly a
special moment,” Shannon says.
Now
Shannon still plays, but it’s in a location known more for its
gondolas than its gators. This is Shannon’s third season in
Europe, and he is currently playing in the Italian league.
“Living over there just made me realize that there's a whole
other world out there,” Shannon says. “It's nice to mingle
in other cultures and customs.”
by Morgan Lord
Zainabu Rumala, 18-year-old UF graduate
When 2003
Then
According to UF graduate student Zainabu Rumala her age was never
that big of a deal.
However, among her close friends, that changed, especially when the
word got out on how young she really was. Stories about her graduating
at 18, which were popping up in the Alligator and UF Digest, didn’t
help the cause.
“When I first came to UF, I didn’t want people to know
my age,” she said. “I didn’t want people to think
I’m some kid genius who studies all the time and doesn’t
go out. Luckily people took it maturely. They were shocked, but they
got over it.”
It all started at the end of the fourth grade, when Rumala skipped
four grades and jumped straight into high school as an “ordinary”
12-year-old. She graduated at 16 with 60 college credits of dual enrollment
and enrolled at UF as a junior, majoring in exercise and sports science
and graduating in spring 2002.
"I was concidering a acareer in the medical field, business ort
law,": she says. "At the time there were so many things
I was interrested in."
Now
A year and a master's degree in business science later, Rumala still
doesn't believe her age was that big of a deal. She does admit her
age has definitely catered to her varied interrests, which for now
are studying intellectual property and health law.
At 20, she has stared her sescond semester of Law School at UF, and
has narrowed down what she wants to do when she grows up.
"Hopefully I'll have my own law firm or maybe become a consultant
for a corporation," Rumala says. "There are a lot of possibilties.
"I'm still young and have time to decide.
by Daniel Aguirre
