John Bs Carlson, attorney, counsellor and friend to
youth, Rotarian and educator, but to us “Swede", a great athlete of an
“ever=victorious" epoch, went on and made “All American" in life's
strenuous competitions |
GirLson came up the hard way, but the honest way.
The son of a Swedish immigrant, this boy who carried a Kansas City Star
route in Kansas City, Kensas, during his high school days, quit this hi gh
school because his father advised him to marry and settle down early.

The father argued that the income fran this lucrative newspaper route ws
sufficient. He chose the alternative,

John was a great catcher on his high school team. Withe
out him the team was impotent. The firemen’ of Kansas City, Kansas, waited
on John’s fether and persuaded him to allow John to return to high sohool
to play on the high school team and incidentally to graduate. In the early
days the fire stations turned out fine baseball teams and it was only
naturel that the firenen would be interested in the success of John and
his high school teams Tt was prophetic that a wreath from the Kensas City,
Kansas, firemen occupied the central location at the bier showing the long
and mutual affections

The following year "Swede" matriculated at the University
of Kansas where his fame as a baseball player far outshone his brilliance on
the gridiron. It is rather significant of John Carlson that he always was
in the center of things. In baseball he chose the position back of the
plate, and on the football field he pleyed the roving center position.

"No passed balls“ and “no player through his position” were two of his
axioms for which he indefatigably fought, "Swede" Carlson had no peer on