Old Man Howard Story aired: Monday, August 25, 2003
For a kid growing up in Medford, Oregon, anywhere near the 68-acre Howard Farm, the ultimate dare, for much of the past 50 years or so was to take your chances with Old Man Howard.
Wesley Howard lived in an unpainted, falling-apart house on the farm, which had been left him by his parents. He was raised there and just never left. He never married. He never got a phone. He just liked his privacy and seemed to particularly hate children. He'd pull out a shotgun and shoot rock salt at kids who strayed on his property, or found their way onto it to break his windows with well-aimed golf balls.
Wesley Howard died of a stroke last March and to the surprise of most everyone, Wesley Howard was rich, very rich. Then, a much greater surprise still, he had left all his money, more than $11 million, to build a sports park on his farm for local children.
We speak with Jack Gundlach in Medford, Oregon who knows first-hand about what it was like to be chased off Wesley Howard's property.
