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The Portlandian, the Internet's premier source of Tonya News
April 20, 2000 Edition
(C) 2000 Portland Ice Skating Society
http://www.geocities.com/portice
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A fairly long issue today, as we've lots to catch up on since our
last edition back in January.
SILVER PUTS THE BULLET INTO TONYA'S COMEBACK
As everyone will be aware by now, the past couple of months have
not been good ones for Tonya, with yet another unfortunate
incident threatening to derail Tonya's comeback which began so
promisingly back in October.
To recap, on Tuesday, February 22, Tonya and her long-time beau
Darren Silver returned to their home in Camas, Washington, after
their regular session of video poker, and parked in a barn behind
their house that is used as a garage. A blazing row then
followed, the trigger for which has not been disclosed, during
which Darren was hit by a hubcap thrown by Tonya, and also
punched by her. The police were called, and Tonya was arrested
and charged with "4th degree misdemeanor domestic assault" or
something similar, a charge that in spite of its innocuous
sounding name could see Tonya going to jail - Washington
apparently takes a hard line on domestic violence and Tonya faces
a mandatory 90 days in the can if convicted.
Linda Lewis, Tonya's godmother, tells us that Tonya is very
saddened by what has occurred. Obviously the possibility of a
jail sentence is also a serious matter. But perhaps the worst
result of this incident so far is that it has caused SFX to dump
Tonya as a client a matter of weeks after it officially signed
her. In a statement on the Blades on Ice website back in early
March, Michael Rosenberg was quoted as saying "I parted company
with Tonya Harding as of March 1 and I wish her well". Given that
Michael seemed to be quite supportive of Tonya in an article by
APB news published a few days earlier (see below), this comes as
something of a surprise. The suddenness of this turnaround makes
us suspect that this decision may have been forced by his bosses
at SFX, rather than any personal feelings about Tonya. Whatever
the story, Tonyaphiles owe Michael a debt of gratitude for at
least trying to help Tonya when nobody else would.
TONYA & DARREN - WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
Needless to say, the media have seized upon this incident as yet
another example that "violent, trashy Tonya" has not really
changed her ways. The fact is that thousands of other domestics,
many much nastier than this, occur each day in the United States
and are usually blissfully ignored by the press. But when Tonya
is involved, they're on her like a pack of wolves, eager to show
her in any negative way they can. This situation has not been
helped by Silver spreading wild accusations such as "Tonya
Harding Beat Me Black and Blue" (a headline in the "National
Globe"). Whatever the original cause of the argument, these are
not the actions of a gentleman.
We say that there are two sides to every story - and as usual
Tonya's side has largely been ignored by the mainstream media
vultures, who never let boring things like facts get in the way
of ratings or selling papers. One rare exception that we urge
everybody to read is the following article, in which Michael
Rosenberg tells what really happened:
http://www.apbnews.com/media/celebnews/2000/02/25/tonya0225_01.ht
ml?s=syn.yahoofc_tonya0225
To sum up, what occurred was this:
Tonya threw the hupcap at Silver's MOTORCYCLE, and did so only
after being provoked by a long stream of verbal abuse from
Silver. It hit him only because he tried to intercept it from
damaging his pride and joy. An enraged Silver then pinned Tonya
to the ground, and she was forced to smash him in the face ONCE
(not several times as often reported) in order to get him off
her. Two witnesses who were in the garage at the time and who
have supported Silver's version of events (he claims Tonya hit
him several times and that he only grabbed her to protect
himself) are Silver's boozing buddies and can hardly be relied
upon to tell the truth.
Once again it seems Tonya has been let down by someone close to
her. We must make sure that as her fans we don't do the same. You
can help; you can leave messages of support on either our site or
any of the many other Tonya web sites. You can defend Tonya in
Usenet groups, bulletin boards and chat rooms wherever this
subject is being discussed. Rosenberg's comments don't seem
to have been reported very widely. Please try to draw people's
attention to this article when this subject comes up.
Let's not let Tonya down in her hour of crisis. Tonya is a
heroine who should be commended for fighting back against
domestic violence, not arrested on trumped up charges. We hope
that the courts will be able to see through this pack of lies,
concocted by yet another abusive loser who has betrayed Tonya's
trust, and give her the justice that was denied her over the
Kerrigan case.
TONYA THANKS FANS FOR SUPPORT
Last issue, we reported how Tonya went for a skate of a rather
unfortunate kind while driving her truck. Tonya has since sent us
this statement thanking her fans for all their good wishes:
Dear Fans:
I want to thank all of you for your nice E-mails concerning
the accident I had a few weeks ago, while driving on my way to
teach at Lloyd Center rink. As you may have heard, I hit a
patch of black ice on the road, resulting in my truck flipping
over on its side.
I'm feeling much better, and am currently under doctors care.
I suffered no long lasting injures, and I will back skating
and teaching in the very near future. Thank you all so much
for your concern, and continued support. Your E-mails have
helped a lot. So please don't worry, I'm doing great!
Love to all,
Tonya
COURT TV TO SCREEN TONYA SPECIAL
Court TV is screening a Tonya special on Tuesday 25th April at
10pm Eastern as part of its "Crime Stories" series. Featuring an
interview with Tonya that was shot last year, "Tonya Harding: Ice
Follies" looks at the incident that destroyed Tonya's career and
its impact on figure skating, and also includes interviews with
Tonya's father, law enforcement officers who investigated the
assault, Michael Rosenberg and others. Executive Producer Bonnie
Dry has previously won two Emmys for documentaries, so hopefully
this will be better than the usual sleazy "When Skaters Attack"
type schlockumentary treatment that stations like Fox typically
give to this subject. If you've access to Court TV, this might be
worth a tape.
By the way, we've been informed that there were Tonya articles in
International Figure Skating and Blades On Ice back in January
that were apparently quite positive, so maybe there is some
glimmer of hope that the skating media have moderated their
attitude towards Tonya.
TONYA'S GARAGE SALE
Tonya is selling her aqua skating dress that she wore the opening
night in the Huntington competition. It will go to the highest
bidder and a letter of authenticity will be included along with
it. Bids can be submitted by email to CIMUS@aol.com, or by snail
mail to P.O. Box 6132 Vancouver, WA, and will close at the end of
the month. She's also selling a silk-screen collage print of
herself for $2500. This was one of a limited edition of 60
released by Portland artist Deforrest in November 1994, each one
of which is different. Given that these were originally priced at
$5000, this is a chance to pick up a unique collectable at a
bargain price, plus help Tonya as well.
For those of us with more modest budgets, there are three new
photos of Tonya available for only $10 each. This is a limited
offer, so be quick. The photos can be viewed at:
http://members.tripod.com/tmhfan/merchandise.html
THE HARAN CHRONICLES - PART 1
Last issue we told how we had received material from former
"Skater" editor Joe Haran relating to his time in the Tonya
Harding Fan Club. In this issue he tells how he first became
involved in the club and his activities as a Tonyaphile since
then:
December 4, 1999
The Portlandian
Portland Ice Skating Society
New Zealand
To whom it may concern:
Today is my first day of at-home internet access, so I was
pleased to find a web site supportive of Tonya M. Harding. It was
my pleasure to have been friends with Tonya from 1992 to 1994. I
wish to pass along to you, via this letter, some information
which may add to your knowledge of certain events and persons
which impacted Tonya's life.
In 1992, after having been aware of Tonya's existence for about
one year, I noticed that the journalistic media were treating her
unfairly; and I wrote a few letters to the editor of The
Oregonian and spoke on local sports-radio talk programs, in
support of a more circumspect and fair view of Tonya by the
journalistic media. While these puny efforts brought no change of
heart to the "big shot" media, I did received a telephone call
from Tonya: she thanked me for my efforts.
Later that year, I learned of Elaine Stamm's desire to form a fan
club for Tonya; and I assisted Ms Stamm in founding The Tonya
Harding Fan Club. We began a monthly publication titled The
Skater; and I was its original editor. At the same time, I began
attending Tonya's daily practices at Clackamas Town Center; and,
although I knew little if anything about figure skating, I was
greatly impressed with Tonya's obvious athletic genius. Also, I
came to know Tonya as a person. I believe we were friends,
although I'm aware that some revisionist history has occurred
since those days; yet I cherish the experiences of that era,
during which time Tonya befriended me on several occasions.
It was painful to witness the many disrespectful indignities
Tonya regularly endured just in order to practice on her home
ice: rather than being treated as the great champion she was, she
was often treated with scorn by other skaters and by the "skating
moms" who expressed chagrin over "all that talent being wasted on
a person like Tonya." Well, I found that person Tonya to be a
good-hearted and thoughtful friend who loved people. It must be
said, in all fairness to those who may have on occasion
misunderstood her, that she sometimes had difficulty in
expressing agape and filial love; yet it was always clear to me
that Tonya cared about others, especially those finding
themselves in difficult situations.
There are three specific things regarding The Tonya Harding Fan
Club of which I am proud: we erected a banner at her home ice
("Home of Tonya Harding; U. S. National Champion, World Silver
Medalist, Olympian"); we published The Skater, which I believe
under my editorship said things that needed to be said; and we
purchased a nebulizer for Tonya, so that she could experience
greater relief from her chronic asthma. The fan club made every
effort to help Tonya in any way it could. There came a time,
however, when I felt my usefulness to the club - and perhaps to
Tonya - had come to an end.
But prior to that sad time, there were many fun and good times:
just being with Tonya was a blast, as she was a dynamo of action
and energy; and she loved having a laugh and telling jokes. It
was, of course, an honor and a great pleasure to watch her skate.
And assisting her in meeting various challenges was extremely
rewarding. On a more personal note, I must tell you that Tonya
cared deeply about my situation: I was unable to work, so she
brought me groceries; my car, before I had to sell it for rent
money, developed bald tires (similar in appearance to my present-
day cranial hair) and Tonya bought me four replacements; I was in
danger of becoming homeless, so she arranged for me to move in
with her father; after I became car-less, Tonya gave me monthly
bus passes; and on Christmas day of 1993, I was a guest in her
home for supper (for which a large traditional meal she prepared;
and which was delicious) and received from her presents of much-
needed new clothing.
Tonya was, in my mind, one of the best friends I'd ever had. But
then the well-known difficulties of 1994 began to unfold. While
Tonya fought for her career and her liberty, I ended up on
several radio and television talk-programs and was interviewed by
many journalists from this country and abroad. I did my best to
call for a circumspect analysis of Tonya's situation, but my
efforts were futile in the face of the overwhelming corporate-
media and justice system "feeding frenzy" attack upon her.
Later in 1994, I wrote a cover-story article for PDXS - a
Portland-area "alternative" newspaper - describing some of the
experiences I had with Tonya. Then, in January of 1995, I wrote
another cover story for PDXS which was one of those "what's Tonya
doing one year later" kind of things. There were, especially in
the latter article, observations which may have angered Tonya
(her choices of intimate partners); yet I was attempting to
explain her actions to the public, to lay blame on "gold diggers"
and away from Tonya herself. Both the above-mentioned editions
were the most widely-circulated in PDXS's history; and the latter
one-year-later article scooped this entire nation's journalistic
media. The "big shot" media did their usual banal regurgitations
of pack-mentality journalism and they presented nothing
insightful in their reports.
Subsequently, while living at the USDVA Domiciliary at White City
(near Medford, Oregon) in 1995-6, I addressed the North Medford
chapter of the Rotary Club; and I told the audience about the
various unethical practices employed by the media of
communication in their Tonya-bashing campaigns. This little
speech was well-received; and several people told me they also
felt Tonya had been unfairly treated. Then, in December of 1997,
I spoke before Humanists of Greater Portland (a chapter of the
American Humanist Association) at Central Branch of Multnomah
County Libraries in Portland. My topic was "When Journalists
Attack"; and it was a multi-media presentation, which included
some brief remarks by Tonya on audio tape which I had recorded in
1993 (when I was beginning the fruitless process of helping her
compile an autobiography). As you mentioned on your web site, the
managing editor of The Business Journal wrote a column which
accurately reflected my presentation and was supportive of Tonya.
Regarding that television program broadcast by Fox Sports
Broadcasting in February of last year, which featured a contrived
sit-down interview with Tonya and Kerrigan: the Fox people came
to see me a few months prior to the broadcast, since a columnist
at The Oregonian (of all places) told them they should. The
interviewer kept at me with questions about hypothetical
situations, but I wouldn't fall for any of his "what if" stuff.
So since I'd nothing negative to say about Tonya, my interview
ended up in the vacuum of the cosmos and not on the Fox network.
That entire program was just a lot of banal nonsense anyway; and
the "softball" treatment afforded Gillooly was unbelievable.
I also raised the issue of Tonya's treatment by the media before
the Northwest News Council at the University of Washington in
Seattle. News councils are supposed to hear complaints against
journalistic media, but the NNC apparently didn't want to take on
the Newhouse corporate empire and its Portland-based rag The
Oregonian. I provided the NNC with many documents which clearly
showed how The Oregonian's coverage of Tonya from 1992 through
1997 was biased and unfair (in other words, unethical). Yet the
NNC kept changing the ground rules, stalling for time and hoping
I'd finally just go away. After speaking with a former dean of
the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication
(as it's now called) earlier this year, I decided to just forget
the whole matter. The dean told me he'd helped found the NNC, but
that its present management wasn't up to the test I had set
before it. He also told me he was attempting to organize an
"Oregon News Council," but he wasn't too optimistic because any
council would have to reach agreements of cooperation with all
the local journalistic-media outlets.
Anyway, I was moved to tears of joy when I learned of Tonya's
courageous performance at the ESPN figure-skating tournament: I
still have a place in my heart for that beautiful little genius;
and I wish Tonya M. Harding all the happiness and love in the
world! Should you have any questions, or if you wish to pass
along to me any data, please do so. You may do whatever you wish
with this letter. Keep up the good work.
Sincerely,
//SIGNED//JOSEPH A. HARAN, JR.
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VISIT THESE GREAT TONYA WEB SITES:
PortIce - http://www.geocities.com/portice
Dave House - http://www.davidhouse.com/tonya/index.html
Charlie Main - http://www.charliesweb.com/tonya/tonya.html
Puppetboy - http://www.puppetland.com/mirrortony2.html
Valerie Smith - http://www.olywa.net/radu/valerie/LilHam.html
Swan Lake - http://members.tripod.com/~TonyaHarding/index.html
Blades of Gold - http://members.tripod.com/tmhfan/index.html
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