by Larry EderA note from Rich Gonzalez, coeditor of dyestatscal.com, with Doug Speck:
It is with a very heavy heart that I pass on the news that Douglas Speck passed away at 10:07 p.m. on Thursday, March 4th.
Doug passed away very peacefully in his sleep with no sign of struggle at all. We were very fortunate to be at bedside to share his final hour.
Doug’s girlfriend, Leslie, and Doug’s immediate family express their sincere thanks to the prayers and acts of kindness in recent days. Please assist is passing the word on.
Doug always loved announcing meets from an angle above the action. Now he has the best seat in the house.
Thanks for your support.
Rich Gonzalez, co-founder, DyestatsCal.com
From the Speck Family,
UPDATE ON DOUG’S PASSING:
It is with heavy hearts that we inform everyone that Doug Speck passed away at 10:07 p.m. on Thursday, March 4th. He passed very peacefully in his sleep with several loved ones nearby. Once details are known on plans for services, they will be shared here.
In lieu of sending flowers to the household, Doug’s family has passed along the following note:
“I know that, in lieu of sending flowers, our dad would like to have people show their support for his life by helping to support the Angeles Clinic Foundation and the hard-working doctors who work at the Angeles Clinic, where he had been treated since last May.”
The Angeles Clinic Foundation
2001 Santa Monica Blvd. 560W
Santa Monica, CA 90404
or call Barbara Quinn at (310) 582-7988
The Angeles Clinic Foundation
Thank you.
The Speck Family
My memories of Doug Speck:
Always a smile, the king of understatement, Doug Speck gave our publications and site a huge amount of support and guidance. I will be forever grateful.
Doug Speck loved high school track & field. His level of involvement would have made mere mortals shudder. Speck was a track & field coach, an athletic director, a co-founder of the Arcadia invitational, and long time high school writer for Track & Field News with his friends Jack Shepard & Mike Kennedy.
In 1990, Doug befriended my partner, Christine Johnson and I, after we met at the US Champs, held in Cerritos, CA, and Junior nationals, held in Bakersfield, CA, that summer. Doug began sending us articles for American Track & Field. Doug’s work level was amazing. Doug helped me cover the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta on the web, which was a lot of fun. He figured out the importance of the web to high school track & field quickly, and helped us grow Cal Track & Running News with our prep site, caltrack.com/prep. He would stay up all night inputting results, and it was appreciated by the athletes, coaches and parents of California. Caltrack.com/prep was the work of Doug and Rich Gonzalez.
Doug Speck and Rich Gonzales went on to the start Dyestatcal.com site, and quite frankly, made it the best high school site on the web! The amount of love that they have put into that site, showcasing the prep athletes of the Golden State, is nothing but astounding. Most importantly, they gave prep athletes and coaches a place to celebrate their sport.
My favorite story of Doug:
It is 1994-95, and Doug invites me to the Arcadia Invitational. He gets me a chair and sits me in the middle of the football field. On one side, is the pole vault (high school record). There were several national marks set that night. Around the track Obea Moore is flying over the 800 meters, and will come back in the 4 x 400 meters. The crowd is screaming! I can not sit down, I am grinning from ear to ear, “Amazing” I exclaim. Doug Speck smiles, comes over to me and says, ” Not a bad little track meet!”
About a half hour later, Obea Moore anchors a killer 4 x 400 meters, with a 45 second point 400 meter. Afterwards, with Doug and I watching on, Obea goes over to the team that beat him, congratulates them and shakes the competitors’ hands. It sent chills down my spine.
I remember writing a piece on Arcadia, calling “the best little track meet in the world.”
Doug Speck loved announcing. My first time at Mt.SAC, he had me sitting with him and Jack Shepard up in the announcing booth. It was fascinating to see Doug at work. He knew all of the prep athletes’ names, stats, and could update splits in a race like no other.
In truth, through his support of the NSSF, Doug was involved in helping shape our sport for several generations. He gave prep athletes the respect they deserved, and his Arcadia Invitational, in 94-96, was better than most elite meets in the U.S. Doug knew how to put together fields and also assemble a team of like minded friends, who would devote much of the year to make a superb meet.
The last time I saw Doug was at the Nike Team XC. He had a respite from his battle with melanoma. We exchanged a few pleasantries, it was nice seeing an old friend. I never did really
get to thank him, or tell him what he meant to me. For that, I have regrets.
Doug Speck was, as his close friend, Rich Gonzalez said, the patriarch of prep track & field…
I will miss him….
Please keep his friends, his girlfriend and family in your thoughts and prayers.
To reach a remembrance of Doug Speck by his good friend, Jim Spier, President of the NSSF: http://www.nationalscholastic.org/article/744/
To reach the dyestatcal.com site, please click http://www.dyestatcal.com//?pg=dyestatcal-2010-TrackField-News-February-26-Doug-Speck
For more on our sport, please click on http://www.runningnetwork.com
