Howard Shapiro - I Was Picked: The John Challis Story

I Was Picked... The John Challis Story

Copyright 2015 by Howard Shapiro

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photo-copying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system with out the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotable embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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ANIMAL MEDIA GROUP

100 First Avenue, Suite 1100, Pittsburgh, PA 15222

animalmediagroup.com

412-566-5656

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the view of the publisher, and the publisher here disclaims any responsibility for them.

Book Design by Pilar Brown

Cover Design by Scott Jones

Cover Photo by Christina Baird/Beaver County Times

Printed in the United States

FIRST EDITION JUNE 2015

ISBN 9780991255009

e-book: ISBN 9780991255054

CONTENTS

HOWARD SHAPIRO ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to all of my friends at Animal Inc. and Animal Media Group (especially Michael Killen, Kathy Dziubek and Jim Kreitzburg) you guys made this all possible and for that I will always be grateful and appreciative! Our former interns who helped tremendously with research and transcription: Mark Slabinski, Tyler Rice, Lindsay Lehrman, Dustin Furman, Aurelia Henderson, Colleen Cavolo, Marlee Schneider, Haley Kittel, Lauren Simmons, Ryan McIntyre and extra special thanks to Elana Goldberg for her editorial and creative help. Danielle Hykes, Esq., Anthony Brooks, Esq., Joe Migliozzi, Mario Lemieux, Dr. Clark Gamblin and Kevin Kernan for their great back cover quotes and Joe Maddon for the wonderful Foreword for the book that he wrote.

Very special thanks to everyone who I interviewed and who were so gracious with their time and memories of John: Bert Pickard, Mike Tibolet, Taylor Dettore, Joe Signore, Joanna Jaworowski, Lena Holewski, Mitchell Meyers, Lisa Nardone, Andy Yeck, Adam Rose and Dan Lentz. Extra special thanks to Steve Wetzel for such a great interview as well as Mike White. It was a great honor Mike, thanks for sharing so much of your time and memories with me.

Thanks to Pilar Brown for stepping in at the 11th hour and doing a great job on the book design, to Kevin Jones for creating such a great cover and to Christina Frey for her time and help on editing and proofing the book. Thank you to Kevin Finley for his work on the publicity and marketing fronts. I also wanted to single out and say thanks to Christina Ahn Hickey. You are a great friend and collaborator and thank you for all that you have done for me and my writing! A huge shout out to Tom Cochrane for his friendship, inspiration and the kindness extended to me over the years... youre the best, my friend! To my sister Jody Shapiro and my mom Alice Shapiro whose strength and character are second to none. I love you so much.

Extra special thanks to Gina, Sasha and Nikita, I love you three more than anything in the world.

Finally, words cant express my thanks to Scott, Gina and Lexie Challis. You three were kind enough to invite me into your home and share all of your memories of John with me and you gave me the great honor to try and tell Johns story. As I said from the first time I met you, if nothing else, I want you three to be happy with the book. Thanks again for everything!

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For more information or to read more about John Challis, please go the Courage for Life Foundation website at this link:

http://courageforlifefoundation.org/about-us/john-challis/

CHALLIS FAMILY ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Adam Rose

Beaver County Times

Bert Pickard

Bill Utterback

Bill Wilhelm

Bishop David Zubik

Boston Red Soxs

Carol May

Christina Baird

Christine Simpson

Cleveland Indians

Conway Borough Council

Conway Police Department.

Dan Arruda

Dan OLeary

Dan Prunzik

Davis DiDomenico

Detroit Tigers

Dr. Anthony Graves

Dr. Clark Gamblin

ESPN

Father Ward

Freedom Borough Council

Freedom Little Bulldogs

Freedom Police Department.

Freedom School District

Freedom School District Booster Organizations

Fuji Network

George Sullivan

Hunt of A Lifetime Foundation

Jason Zillo

Jay Kerschner

JC Summers

Jessica McNear

Joan Pail

Joe Maddon

Joe Signore

Karen Bozza Roman

KDKA TV Radio

Kelly Junkerman

Kimberly Jones

Larissa Theodore

Linda Keener

Lisa Land

Liver Cancer Center Montefiore Hospital Pittsburgh

Make A Wish

Mark Stempler

Michele Rosenthal

Michelle Mejia

Mike White

MLB Network

New Sewickley Twp. Police Department.

New Sewickley Twp. Supervisors

New York Yankees

Noll Funeral Home

Pittsburgh Childrens Hospital Oncology Unit

Omar Khan

Patty Paytas

Patty Tiberio (Gram)

Patty, Tim, Tyler and TJ Heltch

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Tribune - Review

Saints Peter and Paul Roman Catholic Church

Scott Jones

Sean Casey

Steve Wetzel

Tampa Bay Rays

Tom Challis (Grandad)

Tom McMillian

Tom Rinaldi ESPN

Tony Rich

Trudy Scarborough

War Dogs

William Allmann

WPXI TV

WTAE TV

A special thank you to Joanna Jaworowski for being the best aunt a parent could ever wish for their kids. For the love and support and never giving up hope.

To Howard Shapiro and the Animal Media Group for believing in our sons story.

For more information or to read more about John you can go to the web at... http://courageforlifefoundation.org/about-us/john-challis/

PHOTO CREDITS