{"id":28733,"date":"2023-11-06T09:02:41","date_gmt":"2023-11-06T14:02:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=28733"},"modified":"2023-11-06T09:06:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-06T14:06:01","slug":"ice-dancers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/ice-dancers\/","title":{"rendered":"Generations Apart, Ice Dancers Are in Perfect Rhythm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A 1956 grad takes skating lessons from a fellow alum, a half-century removed\u2014leading to a Big Red friendship<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Bear Hugs” celebrates heartwarming stories of Cornellians on the Hill and around the world. Have an idea? Email us at cornellians@cornell.edu<\/a>!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Lindsay Lennon<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was 2010, and two Cornellians\u2014aged 50 years apart\u2014found themselves at the same ice skating rink in White Plains, NY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former national competitor (including with the Cornell Figure Skating Club<\/a>), Jaclyn Klein Walker \u201907, BS \u201906, MPA \u201908<\/strong>, was attending a Sunday morning public skating session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meanwhile, Richard Veron \u201956<\/strong>\u2014a retired attorney and longtime non-competitive speed skater\u2014was there with some fellow enthusiasts. He noticed Walker was wearing a Cornell jacket, and struck up a conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veron told Walker he had a pair of figure skates in his basement, collecting dust. (Years earlier, he and his wife had bought them with the intention of taking lessons, but the plans were derailed by his busy hours at a law firm.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interaction led to Veron and Walker meeting weekly for ice dancing lessons\u2014though whose idea it was depends on whom you ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve always loved watching ice dancing, but figured I would never do it myself,\u201d says Veron, now 88. \u201cIt was very exciting to have somebody who was willing to teach me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Veron admits the transition to the new sport was jarring. For one thing, he was used to speed skates (which have long, narrow blades), or to the hockey skates he wore to glide across a frozen Beebe Lake as a student.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walker also had to train Veron to skate in different directions; as a speed skater, he only knew how to execute a right-over-left-foot crossover, not the other way around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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