Dick Button Set to Defend Three Figure Skating Titles

"Good luck, Mr. Button-bring us a piece of U.S. democracy." That's what 19-year-old freshman Dick Button read when he unwrapped the cellophane from oranges thrown at him in Prague last winter during the European men's figure skating championships. He didn't let the crowd down.

The man he had to beat, Switzerland's world champion Hans Gerschweiler, fashioned a thin lead in the compulsory school figures. But them came Button's bread and butter specialty--free skating. For five straight minutes, Dick exploded with his assortment of jumps and turns, and that was that. After beating Gerschweiler, it was easy for the Englewood, New Jersey, athlete to pocket the Olympic title at St. Moritz and then the world's championship at Davoz.

Will Be on Local Ice

Now he's back in America (on the fourth floor of Massachusetts Hall, to be exact), and if his plans to graduate from Harvard and Harvard Business School materialize, he may be flashing across local ice for the next seven years.

Nobody would appreciate this more than Boston Skating club publicity manager Ben Wright. "It would be wonderful for figure skating in this region," Wright claims. "We made dick an honorary life member of the Club, and he should be a real inspiration for the younger members." Wright can't understand why some people think figure skating is a feminine sport. "Anybody who feels that way should watch Button for five minutes," he explains. "When Dick goes into the air, he uses up just as much energy as a broadjumper."

Seven Years on the Ice

The 175-pound, non-smoking and non-drinking ("I just never got started") freshman has been using up energy on the ice for only seven years. He started figure skating at the age of 12 against his father's wishes. "Dad wanted me to play hockey." Button explains, "but after I won my first medal, you couldn't tear him away from figure skating."

Button will defend three titles in the next few months--the North American at Philadelphia in February, the world title in Paris (with University Hall permission) at the start of the spring term, and the National championship at Colorado Springs during Easter vacation.