- Joan Weston
Joan Weston or Joanie Weston (
January 20 ,1935 –May 10 ,1997 ), known as the "Blonde Bomber", "Blonde Amazon", "Golden Girl", and "Roller Derby Queen", was a U.S. athlete and notable personality in the sport ofroller derby .Early years
Weston was born in Huntington Beach, California in 1935. While playing softball for
Mount St. Mary's College inLos Angeles, California , Weston once hit eighthome run s in a single game.Personal life
Joanie Weston lived in
Hayward, California , where she raisedCocker Spaniel s and co-owned a gay bar called The Driftwood. [cite web|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20070327044333/http://www.tellherstory.com/Bars.htm|archivedate=2007-03-27|url=http://www.tellherstory.com/Bars.htm|title=Lesbian Bars in the San Francisco East Bay|last=Hoke|first=Barbara|accessdate=2007-10-25|year=2006|month=September]The Bay Bomber years
In 1954, Weston joined Roller Derby, becoming a member and later captain of the
San Francisco Bay Bombers . Known as "The Blonde Bomber", "the Blonde Amazon", and "the Roller Derby Queen", she appeared on 19 consecutive all-star teams in that sport, and was the highest-paid female athlete in the 1960s and 1970s.Joan usually skated as the distaff hero of the sport, no matter what league or team she appeared with. She remains the most beloved of all historical roller derby stars. Her long-time rivals on the track included
Ann Calvello (August 1 ,1929 –March 14 ,2006 ), Cathie Read (b.August 17 ,1940 ), Sandy Dunn (b.January 8 ,1945 ), Jan Vallow (b.September 21 ,1940 ), and Margie Laszlo (b.November 8 ,1942 ).Weston was also involved in
surfing andcanoeing . In 1962 she won theHawaii canoeoutrigger championship.The 1972 film "
Kansas City Bomber ", starringRaquel Welch , was inspired by (but not based on) Joanie Weston.Joan later married Nick Scopas (b.
June 3 ,1938 ) who was also a professional Roller Derby Skater.Later years
In 1997, at age 62, Weston succumbed to
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease inHayward, California .In 1999, her life story was sold to
Goldie Hawn Productions.In 2001, Joan was inducted into the "
WSL RollerJam " Hall of Fame along with other legends such as Ralphie Valladares and Buddy Atkinson, Jr.References
External links
* [http://www.newsbackup.com/about787590.html Weston's obituary] in the "New York Times" (archived at newsbackup.com)
* [http://rsparlourtricks.blogspot.com/2006/01/roller-derby-queen.html Joanie Weston profile] on Ron Schuler's Parlour Tricksweblog
* [http://www.baycitybombers.com Photos and footage of Joan]
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