Skating entrepreneur Tom Collins, 88, passes away
By BARRY WILNER AP Sports Writer
To call Tom Collins the father of figure skating tours might be hyperbole. Then again ...
“Tommy treated everyone like family,” Michelle Kwan, the greatest skater of her generation, said Sunday after learning of Collins’ death at his home in Minneapolis at age 88. “I skated for 14 years in his show, and I felt like the daughter he never had."
“Tommy would help any skater. He’d open his wallet to anyone in need. He was very special and we’ll miss him dearly.”
Kwan and 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano spoke on the phone Sunday, sharing both tears and laughs as they recalled their days on “Tommy’s Tour,” and Collins’ role in the lives of so many figure skaters whose careers he helped prolong.
“Tom Collins death marks the end of an era, the golden age of figure skating,” Boitano said. “He stood out in the business. He was a man of loyalty, vision, and tremendous generosity.”
https://www.avpress.com/news/newsli...cle_987efd74-cd22-11e9-ba4f-9bd898281738.html
By BARRY WILNER AP Sports Writer
To call Tom Collins the father of figure skating tours might be hyperbole. Then again ...
“Tommy treated everyone like family,” Michelle Kwan, the greatest skater of her generation, said Sunday after learning of Collins’ death at his home in Minneapolis at age 88. “I skated for 14 years in his show, and I felt like the daughter he never had."
“Tommy would help any skater. He’d open his wallet to anyone in need. He was very special and we’ll miss him dearly.”
Kwan and 1988 Olympic champion Brian Boitano spoke on the phone Sunday, sharing both tears and laughs as they recalled their days on “Tommy’s Tour,” and Collins’ role in the lives of so many figure skaters whose careers he helped prolong.
“Tom Collins death marks the end of an era, the golden age of figure skating,” Boitano said. “He stood out in the business. He was a man of loyalty, vision, and tremendous generosity.”
https://www.avpress.com/news/newsli...cle_987efd74-cd22-11e9-ba4f-9bd898281738.html