Famous Faces, Favorite Places
By Jenny Price '96
Every Badger has a favorite Madison place.
Who didn't love eating ice cream on the Memorial Union Terrace? Or experiencing Bascom Hill on a warm, sunny day when you could study on the grass or toss a Frisbee? Or jumping up and down in unison with thousands of other football fans until Camp Randall Stadium shook?
But oftentimes, nostalgia runs just as deep for places that aren't campus icons. You may remember a restaurant that served the perfect burger, where the jukebox played just the right song after a bad exam, or where a curious combination of Madisonians and students hung out together. You may find it hard to forget the site of your first date with your spouse-to-be or with the one who got away. Or you may long for a regular haunt, where the meaning of life was habitually hashed out over cold beers, or an out-of-the-way study space where the sun came through the windowpane just so.
On Wisconsin asked a group of notable alumni to stroll down memory lane and share what they found with fellow Badgers. Their favorites demonstrate not only how intensely memory and place are intertwined, but also how time spent outside of class has helped to form the quintessential UW-Madison experience.
Every Badger has a favorite Madison place.
Who didn't love eating ice cream on the Memorial Union Terrace? Or experiencing Bascom Hill on a warm, sunny day when you could study on the grass or toss a Frisbee? Or jumping up and down in unison with thousands of other football fans until Camp Randall Stadium shook?
But oftentimes, nostalgia runs just as deep for places that aren't campus icons. You may remember a restaurant that served the perfect burger, where the jukebox played just the right song after a bad exam, or where a curious combination of Madisonians and students hung out together. You may find it hard to forget the site of your first date with your spouse-to-be or with the one who got away. Or you may long for a regular haunt, where the meaning of life was habitually hashed out over cold beers, or an out-of-the-way study space where the sun came through the windowpane just so.
On Wisconsin asked a group of notable alumni to stroll down memory lane and share what they found with fellow Badgers. Their favorites demonstrate not only how intensely memory and place are intertwined, but also how time spent outside of class has helped to form the quintessential UW-Madison experience.
Who: Self-employed real-estate investor
Known for: All-American Badger track star and football player; first-round draft pick in 1985 and three-time Pro-Bowler with the New York Jets
Favorite place: Mickey's Dairy Bar
Why? Home-style cooking in the shadow of Camp Randall Stadium, where little has changed since the diner opened there in 1946, and eating one of the big-as-your-head pancakes is a rite of passage. Toon '95 first dined there with other athletes and now goes with his wife, Jane '85, and their four children, including eldest son, Nick x'11, a redshirt freshman on the Badger football team. "I was about twelve hundred miles from home [Newport News, Virginia], and anything that helped with reducing homesickness was a winner," Toon says. (For an interview with Toon on the Big Ten Network's Wisconsin Reflections, visit www.wisconsinreflections.wisc.edu.)
Known for: All-American Badger track star and football player; first-round draft pick in 1985 and three-time Pro-Bowler with the New York Jets
Favorite place: Mickey's Dairy Bar
Why? Home-style cooking in the shadow of Camp Randall Stadium, where little has changed since the diner opened there in 1946, and eating one of the big-as-your-head pancakes is a rite of passage. Toon '95 first dined there with other athletes and now goes with his wife, Jane '85, and their four children, including eldest son, Nick x'11, a redshirt freshman on the Badger football team. "I was about twelve hundred miles from home [Newport News, Virginia], and anything that helped with reducing homesickness was a winner," Toon says. (For an interview with Toon on the Big Ten Network's Wisconsin Reflections, visit www.wisconsinreflections.wisc.edu.)
Who: Reporter, The Washington Post
Known for: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who is now working on his third book, which is set in his family's ancestral village in south Lebanon.
Favorite place: The Black Bear Lounge
Why? Bikers and college students gathered for drinks and conversation, and members of The Daily Cardinal staff, including Shadid '90, calmed their nerves after weekly Friday meetings that usually involved shouting matches and ego slaying. Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" was in heavy rotation on the jukebox. "It was kind of dingy; it was a little bit of a dive; there was that big black bear on the wall," he says. "There were conversations about everything from relationships to high politics..to who was with whom at the Cardinal compared to the week before. So it was just great, just so much fun, and so alive - everyone was just excited to be there. In some ways, that is a very college experience."
Known for: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who is now working on his third book, which is set in his family's ancestral village in south Lebanon.
Favorite place: The Black Bear Lounge
Why? Bikers and college students gathered for drinks and conversation, and members of The Daily Cardinal staff, including Shadid '90, calmed their nerves after weekly Friday meetings that usually involved shouting matches and ego slaying. Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up in Blue" was in heavy rotation on the jukebox. "It was kind of dingy; it was a little bit of a dive; there was that big black bear on the wall," he says. "There were conversations about everything from relationships to high politics..to who was with whom at the Cardinal compared to the week before. So it was just great, just so much fun, and so alive - everyone was just excited to be there. In some ways, that is a very college experience."
Who: Host, Fox News program On the Record
Known for: No-nonsense legal analysis during CNN's coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and the 2000 presidential election; being named one of the world's one hundred most powerful women by Forbes magazine.
Favorite place: The "music room" upstairs at Memorial Union
Why? The marble-columned and wood-paneled Main Lounge on the second floor, with its grand piano, was a familiar place to study or relax for Van Susteren '76, who was raised in a home filled with classical music. She first visited it at the suggestion of her father and brother, both UW alumni. "I went there almost daily while I was a student at Wisconsin," she says. "Most people never strayed above the first floor of the Union when I was in college, so it was a bit of a hidden spot. If I went to the Union today, it would be my first stop."
Known for: No-nonsense legal analysis during CNN's coverage of the O.J. Simpson trial and the 2000 presidential election; being named one of the world's one hundred most powerful women by Forbes magazine.
Favorite place: The "music room" upstairs at Memorial Union
Why? The marble-columned and wood-paneled Main Lounge on the second floor, with its grand piano, was a familiar place to study or relax for Van Susteren '76, who was raised in a home filled with classical music. She first visited it at the suggestion of her father and brother, both UW alumni. "I went there almost daily while I was a student at Wisconsin," she says. "Most people never strayed above the first floor of the Union when I was in college, so it was a bit of a hidden spot. If I went to the Union today, it would be my first stop."
Who: In-demand health care consultant; partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm
Known for: Being Wisconsin's longest-serving governor; former secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; onetime 2008 presidential candidate
Favorite place: The Varsity Bar
Why? At this now-defunct State Street tavern, Thompson '63, JD'66 found work as a bouncer, bartender, and eventually manager as he worked his way through his undergraduate years and law school, back when he would jokingly introduce himself to strangers by putting out his right hand and saying, "I'm Tommy Thompson, and I appreciate your vote and support." He says,"I still have friends that used to come into the bar because I was a bartender there. I also had a chance to meet a lot of lovely young co-eds that I dated out of that bar."
Known for: Being Wisconsin's longest-serving governor; former secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; onetime 2008 presidential candidate
Favorite place: The Varsity Bar
Why? At this now-defunct State Street tavern, Thompson '63, JD'66 found work as a bouncer, bartender, and eventually manager as he worked his way through his undergraduate years and law school, back when he would jokingly introduce himself to strangers by putting out his right hand and saying, "I'm Tommy Thompson, and I appreciate your vote and support." He says,"I still have friends that used to come into the bar because I was a bartender there. I also had a chance to meet a lot of lovely young co-eds that I dated out of that bar."
Who: Member of Congress
Known for: Representing Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1999
Favorite place: The UW theater department's costume lab, formerly located in the basement of Memorial Union
Why? Baldwin JD'89 was raised by her grandmother, Doris Green, who served as the lab's director, teaching theater students and making costumes -everything from suits of armor to hoop skirts. Baldwin spent many hours in the costume lab as a child; she recalls helping make fake pearl necklaces for a play set in the 1920s, using gumballs painted iridescent white. She also played a role in the children's chorus of a production of Finian's Rainbow. "My grandmother started bringing me to the costume lab before I even had memories," she says. "I was told that in the big cutting table, there's this large drawer - a really large drawer -that served as sort of a wonderful crib. [My grandmother's] supervisor came in one day and saw little hands stick up and said, 'Oh my!' "
Known for: Representing Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1999
Favorite place: The UW theater department's costume lab, formerly located in the basement of Memorial Union
Why? Baldwin JD'89 was raised by her grandmother, Doris Green, who served as the lab's director, teaching theater students and making costumes -everything from suits of armor to hoop skirts. Baldwin spent many hours in the costume lab as a child; she recalls helping make fake pearl necklaces for a play set in the 1920s, using gumballs painted iridescent white. She also played a role in the children's chorus of a production of Finian's Rainbow. "My grandmother started bringing me to the costume lab before I even had memories," she says. "I was told that in the big cutting table, there's this large drawer - a really large drawer -that served as sort of a wonderful crib. [My grandmother's] supervisor came in one day and saw little hands stick up and said, 'Oh my!' "
Who: President and chief technology officer, TurboTap in Chicago
Known for: While an engineering student at the UW, Younkle '97 invented the prototype for a device that keeps tap beers from developing too much foam. It's now used in ballparks and stadiums around the country.
Favorite place: Greenbush Bar
Why? The low-ceilinged hangout in the basement of Madison's old Italian Workmen's Club might not be where one would expect to see college students. But it sticks out for Younkle because it was the first place where he tried craft and micro-brewed beers. It's also where he took his wife, Susan (Weber) Younkle '00, on their first date. "It was quiet and just kind of had a very laid-back atmosphere, and my roommate and I would wander over there and have a few beers together and just talk about life," he recalls. "We always thought we were kind of big shots, going there as students, having the fancy beers, so it was kind of our chance to be a little bit special."
Known for: While an engineering student at the UW, Younkle '97 invented the prototype for a device that keeps tap beers from developing too much foam. It's now used in ballparks and stadiums around the country.
Favorite place: Greenbush Bar
Why? The low-ceilinged hangout in the basement of Madison's old Italian Workmen's Club might not be where one would expect to see college students. But it sticks out for Younkle because it was the first place where he tried craft and micro-brewed beers. It's also where he took his wife, Susan (Weber) Younkle '00, on their first date. "It was quiet and just kind of had a very laid-back atmosphere, and my roommate and I would wander over there and have a few beers together and just talk about life," he recalls. "We always thought we were kind of big shots, going there as students, having the fancy beers, so it was kind of our chance to be a little bit special."
Who: Renowned chef
Known for: Owner of his eponymous Chicago restaurant
Favorite place: Quivey's Grove Stone House
Why? Trotter '82 worked one of his first restaurant jobs at The Monastery, where he dressed in monk garb as a bartender and waiter, but he enjoyed escaping downtown Madison with friends to experience Quivey's Grove, the historic restaurant twenty minutes from campus. Trotter hasn't visited it in years, but looks forward to taking his son there on his next visit to Madison. "This out-of-the-way spot, something we felt that we had 'discovered,' was a getaway from campus," he recalls. "It felt like being in another time period - to be a college student at a sophisticated farmhouse with such charm and history to it."
Known for: Owner of his eponymous Chicago restaurant
Favorite place: Quivey's Grove Stone House
Why? Trotter '82 worked one of his first restaurant jobs at The Monastery, where he dressed in monk garb as a bartender and waiter, but he enjoyed escaping downtown Madison with friends to experience Quivey's Grove, the historic restaurant twenty minutes from campus. Trotter hasn't visited it in years, but looks forward to taking his son there on his next visit to Madison. "This out-of-the-way spot, something we felt that we had 'discovered,' was a getaway from campus," he recalls. "It felt like being in another time period - to be a college student at a sophisticated farmhouse with such charm and history to it."
Who: Former Badger swimmer and Big Ten record holder in the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyle
Known for: Winning gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the U.S. 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay team, which also broke a seventeen-year-old world record; swimming the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter freestyle trials, hoping to make the U.S. team for the 2008 games in Beijing
Favorite place: The Nitty Gritty on West Johnson Street, near the Kohl Center
Why: The every-day-is-someone's-birthday atmosphere and the hospitality of owner Marsh Shapiro '63, who always welcomed the swimmers personally when they came to celebrate or entertain new recruits. Look closely on the back wall and you may see a group photo of Piper '06 celebrating her twenty-first birthday. "I remember first going [there] on my recruiting trip, and coming home and telling people about cheese curds and how good they were," she says. "One of my favorite things about my college experience was the friends I made and the places we went on campus just to sit and talk."
Known for: Winning gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the U.S. 4-by-200-meter freestyle relay team, which also broke a seventeen-year-old world record; swimming the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter freestyle trials, hoping to make the U.S. team for the 2008 games in Beijing
Favorite place: The Nitty Gritty on West Johnson Street, near the Kohl Center
Why: The every-day-is-someone's-birthday atmosphere and the hospitality of owner Marsh Shapiro '63, who always welcomed the swimmers personally when they came to celebrate or entertain new recruits. Look closely on the back wall and you may see a group photo of Piper '06 celebrating her twenty-first birthday. "I remember first going [there] on my recruiting trip, and coming home and telling people about cheese curds and how good they were," she says. "One of my favorite things about my college experience was the friends I made and the places we went on campus just to sit and talk."
Who: Vice president, Associate Engineering in Hustisford, Wisconsin; color analyst for ESPN regional broadcasts of college basketball; father of four
Known for: Winning Big Ten defensive player of the year and helping the Badgers make the NCAA Final Four in 2000
Favorite place: Glenway Golf Course
Why? Nine holes and the par threes made Kelley '01 feel like a good golfer, and the unassuming city-run course just minutes west of campus made it easy for Kelley and some of his teammates to squeeze in a round. "I'd like to tell you I was the best, but Jon [Bryant '00] was probably the best," he says. "There would always be something on the line - never too much, because we didn't have a lot of money - but pride, always, and maybe a few nickels here and there."
Known for: Winning Big Ten defensive player of the year and helping the Badgers make the NCAA Final Four in 2000
Favorite place: Glenway Golf Course
Why? Nine holes and the par threes made Kelley '01 feel like a good golfer, and the unassuming city-run course just minutes west of campus made it easy for Kelley and some of his teammates to squeeze in a round. "I'd like to tell you I was the best, but Jon [Bryant '00] was probably the best," he says. "There would always be something on the line - never too much, because we didn't have a lot of money - but pride, always, and maybe a few nickels here and there."
Events
- Ethics and the Future of Democatic Media - December 2
- Politics and Challenges of Immigration Reform - December 5
- New York City Christmas Tour - December 12
- Kilimanjaro Trekking & Safari - January 18
