Dick Connor Papers
Scope and Content
The focus of these papers is the career of Dick Connor as a sports writer.
The papers contain an extensive collection of newspaper clippings of columns by Dick Connor from 1965-1992. The majority of these clippings are from the Rocky Mountain News or the Denver Post, though there are also clippings from other newspapers including those he wrote while in the United States Airforce in the 1950s. Other writings include magazine articles, manuscript drafts of short stories, printouts for a book he ghostwrote on Dan Reeves, and printout drafts of some of his columns.
His wife, Mary Kay Connor-Spieler, wrote a book about Connor titled Dick Connor Remembered which features the columns by which he was known. This book, its publicity, and the columns she reviewed are part of the manuscript series of these papers.
Audio cassettes, photocopies of photographs, get-well cards, condolence notes, and memorial mass cards are also included within the papers.
Series Listing and Description
Series 1 – Correspondence – Box 1
These files contain letters sent to Connor. An additional file contains files sent to Connor in 1982 when he left the Denver Post to work for the Rocky Mountain News.
This series is arranged in alphabetical order by author’s surname.
Series 2 – Clippings – Boxes 1 – 5
These clippings come from the Connor family and from the clipping libraries of the Denver Post and the Rocky Mountain News. Clippings labelled “additional clippings” may contain duplicates as well as clippings from other papers around the country.
This series is arranged chronologically.
Series 3 – Manuscripts – Box 5
Manuscripts are defined in this series as any piece of writing by Connors in an unpublished form. Included in these files are the printouts of sports articles appearing in newspapers, articles for magazines, shorts stories, and his daily record of a 6-week long Denver Post orientation in 1965.
This series is arranged by format and then chronologically.
Series 4 – Publications – Boxes 6 & 7
This series contains a book ghost-written by Dick Connor about Dan Reeves, a book by Connor on the Denver Broncos, and one of the Kansas City Chiefs. Also included in this series are printed articles that he wrote for magazines, some of the awards won by Connor for his publications, and a book about Connor, written by his wife, May Kay, and the files of clippings she reviewed for the publications.
This series is arranged by format and then chronologically.
Series 5 – Videos – Box 7
This series contains interviews of Connor primarily conducted by TV stations.
Series 6 – Memorabilia – Boxes 8 – 11
The bulk of material in this series is composed of cards, flowers, and special masses sent to the Connors as a result of Dick Connor’s cancer diagnoses. The first set of get-well cards are the responses to Connor’s October 14th, 1990 column in the Denver Post, “Cancer Gets a Cold Time-Out from Fantasy World,” in which he announced to his readers that he was undergoing surgery for his cancer. These include cards from Senator Alan K. Simpson, Pat Bowlen, Al Knight, Dan and Pam Reeves, and J. Francis Stafford, Archbishop of Denver. Get-well cards from 1992 follow after Connor underwent more surgery and during his final illness later that year.
The remaining cards are the condolences received by the Connor family after his death on December 30th, 1992. Included are cards from Fr. Sheeran, S.J., President of Regis University, Roy Romer, Governor of Colorado, Wellington Webb, Mayor of Denver, and Fr. Ralph D. Houlihan, S.J., President of Regis High School.
Also within this series are two profiles of people connected with Regis University; Rev. Bernard J. Murray, S.J. and William J. Cozzens, who donated land to Regis College for a summer retreat. Other items include an invitation to an award ceremony, business cards, and a press pass to the Sky Sox games.
This series is arranged by formant and then chronologically.
Series 7 - Photographic Prints – Box 11
The photos within this series are photocopies of prints lent by the Connor family for the collection. Slides have been made of the original prints. Copyright of the prints is owned by the Connor family and permission to use the prints in publications must be obtained by the researcher.
This series is arranged by subject.
Series 8 - Audio Cassette Interviews – Boxes 12-17
This series contains labelled, and unlabeled audio cassettes and micro-cassettes which contain interviews with Dick Connor.
This series is arranged by format, and then alphabetically by surname.
Series 9 – Oversize Items – Oversize Boxes 1-3
This series contains oversized items related to Connor and his career.
Items include a 1950 issue of the Regis Brown and Gold, with a cartoon Connor drew for the front page, a 1952 issue if the Indoctrinator, the newspaper form Parks Air Force Base, CA with articles written by Connor, and issues from 1953-1954 of The Scramble, the newspaper from Hamilton Air Force Base, CA.
Also included are a scrapbook of Dick Connor’s obituaries made by the Tomlinson Family in 1993, and materials from an exhibit on Connor that was held in the Dayton Memorial Library at Regis University in 2001. Photographs of this exhibit were taken by Dick Golesh, Mary Kay Connor-Spieler’s brother-in-law.
Other related collections stored within the Regis University Archives and Special Collections include;