Coral Gables Historical Archive
The Times
Saturday, January 22, 1977, page 2 (of 24)
The page
The text of this pageRead by computer from the scan, so some words may be wrong. The page picture is the original.
TIMES/GUIDE
2 TIMES/GUIDE Weekend of January 22/23, 1977
Yo-Yo champ retires to the 'peaceful' life of cop
By KAY SEVERINSEN Staff Writer Paul Richardson wears the crown modestly, but then, not everyone has heard of the International Yo-Yo Champion. Now retired and resting on his laurels, Richardson, a South Dade resident, won the international tournament four years in a row, from 1969 to 1972. He was never beaten, he says, but decided that he wanted to get out of the Yo-Yo business, "and let other people move up." Richardson is now a patrolman for the Metro Public Safety Department, a far cry from the kind of work he was doing five years ago. As a professional Yo-Yo player, Richardson was sponsored by Duncan Corporation, which is the leading manufacturer of Yo-Yos in the United States. His job was to tour the country promoting Yo-Yos. Every year, at the international tournament held in the Philippines, Richardson won hands down, so to speak. It's not easy to win the championship. As a team, Richardson and another player would do tricks together. "I might wrap the string around his finger or his head, or drop the Yo-Yo into his pocket." To win the tournament, a player does five minutes Photo by KAY SEVERINSEN of tricks, which are videotaped and studied for one hour by the next contestant. He then, must repeat the same tricks exactly then add five minutes of his own. "Sometimes the tournaments went on for hours," Richardson remembers. "I started when I was six in Milwaukee when Paul Richardson, undefeated Yo-Yo king, demonstrates one of the tricks that brought him fame and glory. the Duncan champion used to come to our neighborhood and perform. I used to talk to him afterwards," says Richardson. "I won six state championships while I was in grade school." Richardson sort of let his Yo-Yo playing drop until college. There he would practice on his way to classes, or even during class. Although he majored in design illustrating, Richardson's fraternity brothers convinced him to consider professional Yo-Yo playing. At first he took it as a joke, but after trying out for and being accepted as a Duncan professional, it began to look a little different. His manager got him parts on the television shows "Caribe" and "Big Valley". He also appeared on "To Tell the Truth" and twice on the "Johnny Carson Show." Now, his only appearances are those he is talked into by friends. "My fiance carries a Yo-Yo in her purse. That way when someone asks me to do tricks and I say I don't have a Yo-Yo, she pops up and says, "Oh, yes you do!" For Richardson, Yo-Yo playing relieves the tensions he encounters in police work. "It's the only thing I can throw that won't break." It can have its hazards though. "If it's cold and the Yo-Yo comes snapping back, you can break a nail or even a finger," Richardson says. Richardson's favorite tricks are those that spoof his new job. "Here's a jail," he says with spinning string laced between his fingers. "And here's a shotgun."
January breaking records Area hospitals can't keep up with patient loads
By ANA MARIA ALVAREZ Staff Writer If the temperature in South Dade is breaking all sorts of records, so are the number of patients at local area hospitals. January has traditionally been a busy month for Coral Gables and South Dade hospitals, but this year the number of patients at many hospitals is. considerably higher than in years before. At South Miami Hospital, a new wing had to be opened this week to make room for the overflow of patients who sought admission to the medical institution. "Our hospital is overflowing with patients," said Larry Strum, public information officer at South Miami Hospital. "On Monday we didn't have enough beds to meet the demands, so we had to open a new wing of the building—something we haven't had to do for at least the past three years." With 370 patients already in the hospital, and 50 capacity with a wing equipped with 33 additional beds. Baptist Hospital in South Dade and Doctor's Hospital in Coral Gables are also experiencing an increase in patient loads this month. "We are running way Doctors Hospital has been overloaded with patients for two weeks above the average number of patients for this time of the year," said Baptist Hospital spokesperson. "The number of patients we have now is considerably higher than for this same time last year." According to Joseph F. McAloon, administrator for Doctor's Hospital, the Coral Gables facility has been overloaded with patients for the past two weeks. "December is always a slow month because most people defer hospitalization until after the holidays, so there is always a certain jump in the census during this time of the year," said McAloon. "But we have exceeded even that number this year," he added. Although the increase can not be attributed to any one particular problem, the majority of hospitals are caring for a large number of patients with respiratory problems. "We are handling more medical patients rather than surgical patients," said McAloon. "We have a lot of respiratory problems. There are many people with respiratory diseases down in this area and the cold weather really bothers them," he said. Aside from the respiratory cases, South Miami has also seen an increase in traffic accident victims, heart attack patients and those affected with influenza. "The extra traffic along U.S. 1 caused by so many tourists down here have resulted in many more accidents this month," the spokesman for South Miami said. At Baptist the increase is mainly due to the expansion of the maternity ward. "Over the past year the number of patients in the maternity ward have been increasing. "I don't think it's because the number of women having babies has increased. We have renovated the obstetrics unit and more people are coming here," said the Baptist spokesperson.