Jill Kinmont Boothe
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. (Consider using more specific cleanup instructions.) Please help improve this article if you can. The talk page may contain suggestions. (September 2009) |
| Jill Kinmont Boothe | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Born | February 16, 1936 Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Died | February 9, 2012 (aged 75) Carson City, Nevada, United States |
Jill Kinmont Boothe (February 16, 1936 – February 9, 2012) was a former alpine ski racer who competed in the mid-1950s.
Born in Los Angeles, Jill Kinmont grew up in Bishop, California, skiing and racing at Mammoth Mountain. In early 1955, she was the reigning national champion in the slalom, and a top prospect for a medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics, a year away.
While competing in the downhill at the Snow Cup in Alta, Utah, on 30 January, 1955, [1] she suffered a near-fatal accident which resulted in paralysis from the neck down. It ironically occurred the same week that Kinmont, weeks shy of her 19th birthday, was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine dated 31 January 1955. [2]
After her rehabilitation, she went on to graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a B.A. in German[3] and earned a teaching credential from the University of Washington. She had a long career as an educator first in Washington and then in Beverly Hills, California. She taught special education at Bishop Union Elementary School from 1975-96 in her hometown of Bishop. She was an accomplished painter who had many exhibitions of her artwork.
Kinmont was the subject of two movies: The Other Side of the Mountain in 1975, and The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 in 1978. Both films starred Marilyn Hassett as Kinmont.
Jill married trucker John Boothe in November 1976, and they made their home in Bishop until her death.
Ruth Rhines, senior deputy coroner of Carson City, confirmed that Boothe died February 9, 2012, at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center. A cause of death has not been reported and Rhines could not confirm reports that Boothe died of complications related to surgery.
Boothe was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1967.
[edit] References
- ^ Sports Illustrated; 28 February 1955
- ^ Sports Illustrated; 31 January 1955
- ^ Valens, E. G., 1966, 1975 The other Side of the Mountain, Warner Books Edition, p. 270
[edit] External links
- National Ski Hall of Fame - Jill Kinmont - inducted 1967
- Sports Illustrated - cover - 31-Jan-1955
- Sports Illustrated - six months after accident - 25-Jul-1955
- Sports Illustrated - Jill Kinmont Boothe, 42 years later - 24-Feb-1997
- Internet Movie Database - The Other Side of the Mountain - 1975
- Internet Movie Database - The Other Side of the Mountain Part II - 1978
- Jill Kinmont Boothe at the Internet Movie Database
- Crowe, Jerry. "Jill Kinmont Boothe is still going strong more than 50 years after paralyzing skiing accident," Los Angeles Times, Sunday, May 22, 2011.
