History
Bonnie & Clyde and Art…75th Anniversary

The 1967 movie about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow was a sentimental, glossy Hollywood anti-hero flick that did not tell the real story of the two West Dallas bank robbers who went on a crime spree on back road America in the 1930s. But, Arthur Penn was not alone in creating the legend of Bonnie & Clyde. The newspapers of the day were so full of embellishment of the couple that they had earned a Robin Hood reputation with the public. It was, after all, the Depression and bank foreclosures, evictions and bank failures were commonplace [Sound familiar?]. They were striking back at the rich in the eyes of many.

But, it all changed 75 years ago tomorrow, April 1, 1934. Two Texas Highway Patrol motorcycle officers wandered upon the car of the pair outside Grapevine, TX. Bonnie & Clyde had a revolving door of accomplices during their crime spree and at this time, Henry Metvin was their partner in crime. Metvin was in the vehicle with the couple. In a gunfight that ensued when the officers approached the car, Metvin killed the first officer at pointblank range. The second officer was wounded and Metvin alighted from the car, stood over the officer and fired several more rounds into his prone body killing him. A false account had Bonnie firing the final, fatal shoots into H.D. Murphy who was to be married in a few weeks. The press and the public quickly turned on the couple.

Fifty three days later, after weeks of hunting down the couple, on May 23, 1934, a posse of lawmen, lead by Frank Hamer, ambushed Bonnie & Clyde on a dirt road in Louisiana. The car, with bodies still inside, was towed to Arcadia, LA, for public display. Bonnie Parker died in a hail of gunfire at 23. Clyde Barrow was 24. So, their lives ended 75 years ago in the violent fashion their public lives began

At the same time another man in his twenties was beginning a less spectacular and non-public career. 75 years ago, a young teacher in Clearfield, PA, started scholastic wrestling at the local high school. Art Weiss commenced a wrestling program that has produced lasted and thrived for ¾ of a century. He coached 14 undefeated teams and had 31 state champions more than any other coach in PA high school wrestling history. And, not only that, he has had a positive influence on several generations of young men. He has helped develop thousands of boys into men, teaching them lessons of wrestling and life. Unlike Bonnie & Clyde he did not squander his life. He lives today at the age of 100.

Art Weiss, while not notorious, has been recognized for a lifetime of achievement. He has been inducted into virtually every amateur coaching and wrestling hall of fame that he could be. It culminated with being inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1991 along with national coaching legends Tom Landry and John Wooden. Not that you would know it as he lives as he always has as a humble and gracious man. He has poured his life into young people living by the principles of his Christian faith. His has been a life well lived. Seventy five years ago he made a commitment to better the lives of others through wrestling. He did not opt for a self-indulgent life as did Bonnie & Clyde. His was an effort to better and help others during the same Depression that the bank robbing pair, through crime and murder, tried to help themselves. Their program ended in death to them; Art’s brought life and hope to others.

So, in the coming days and months, if you are reminded of the 75th anniversary of Bonnie & Clyde, remember another 75th anniversary. One of construction not destruction; one of quiet, selfless contribution not brazen public displays of criminality; one that lives on in the lives of many, not dead on a rural dirt road, the life and legacy of Art Weiss.