Real Deal Jock
June 15, 2010 
6 Comments
This man didn’t bat an eyelash when I asked if I could take his picture. He jumped right in to explain that he’d been trampled by horses.
“I’ve done it all,” he said, waving to a broken cheekbone.
Pick-up line: “You’d make a good jockey with that slim figure of yours.”
Another verbatim quote: “I love Spokane. I live in that tower there and have a great view out over the river. I’ve been riding for thirty years. When they tore out the track I was through. That was it for me.”
About the Author
One of the great things about Spokane: all the interesting people you meet randomly.
I love the framing in this shot, it is so Spokane! Glad to see the street style series is back in action.
Where do you find these people?
Every town has its interesting characters. I lived in New Orleans for several years, and the most memorable for me was Ruthie the Duck Girl. She was a 40-ish woman in hippie costume, always followed along the French Quarter sidewalks by a pair of ducks. The tourists would gawk, but the residents would just greet her with, “Hi, Ruthie,” and receive a smile in return. The ducks were welcome in every Bourbon and Royal St. establishment.
I have talked with this guy before and he is for real. My friends say he was a pretty famous jockey at one time and like many he lost his job when the State shut down Playfair. This was all before my time as I moved here to take a job in 1994 from Nevada
I always wondered what that guys story was. I have seen him around before.