United by Unitas
Photo by Eric Gazzillo/The Towerlight
Former Baltimore Colts defensive tackle Art Donovan sits behind his house, with the Valley Country Club’s mansion looming in the
background. Donovan was a teammate of legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas, whom Towson’s football stadium is named after.
Hall-of-Famer Art Donovan reflects on careers, country clubs and Johnny U
CARRIE WOOD
Editor in Chief
It’s safe to say that everyone in the
Towson area knows who Johnny Unitas
was, or at least has heard of him, thanks
to the stadium named in his honor. The
almost mythical quarterback for the
Baltimore Colts has a teammate living
in Towson - Art Donovaa Donovan, a
former defensive tackle for the Colts,
resides next to his family-owned busi¬
ness, the Valley Country Club.
Donovan said he began playing foot¬
ball when he was eight years old in a
school yard in the Bronx, New York.
He played high school ball and, after
going to college for a semester, decided
to join the Marine Corps. He returned
from duty and went to Boston College
for four years before being drafted by
the Colts in 1950. Donovan went on to
be a five-time Pro Bowl selection and
was inducted into the National Football
League Hall of Fame in 1968.
Being on the same side as Unitas was
the best football experience you could
get, Donovan said.
"I never played with John, because
he was on the offense and I was on the
defense," he said. "But as a football
player, playing on the same team as
John, I’d say I was playing with the
best."
Donovan, now 85 years old, played
on the same team as Unitas from 1956
to 1961. He remained friends with
Unitas until his death on September
11, 2002. At the time, Unitas was the
community liaison for Towson athletics
and a major fund-raiser for the univer¬
sity. Donovan said that the decision
to name the stadium for him was the
right thing to do.
See COLTS, page 9
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ИСТОКЕ
CAROS
Russians to
take over
Center for
the Arts
Series of plays to
be translated into
English, performed
for first time in U.S.
LAUREN SLAVIN
Arts Editor
A dramatic Russian revolution is
taking place at Towson University.
But unlike the revolution of 1917
that established the Soviet Union, this
revolution is literally a work of Russian
drama.
Through the help of the Center for
International Theatre Development,
Towson University’s department of
theatre arts is working on translating a
series of Russian plays to be performed
and directed by Towson students and
theatre professors.
‘We have a pretty ambitious goal, I
guess, which is really to bring this work
not just to Towson and Baltimore but
to the United States. Not introduce it
for the very first time, but try to make
it more widely available and more
widely known then it has been in the
past," associate professor of theatre
arts Robyn Quick said.
The plays are a product of a new
wave of playwriting in Russia, accord¬
ing to Quick. The new Russian play¬
wrights are from the first generation
to come of age since the fall of the
Soviet Union.
"This writing is coming really direct¬
ly out of the experience of a generation
that has been through tremendous
social upheaval and chaos,” Quick
said. "I think, given the history of real
misunderstanding between Russia and
our country, it’s particularly important
to understand where people’s history
have brought them."
Quick has been working with the
CITD for over three years toward
bringing these new plays to Towson
University.
"I was interested in it for a couple of
reasons: one is that it was coming out
of young people, sort of by and about
young people, and as someone who
teaches young people I thought that
would be an important connection,"
See RUSSIA, page 16
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