My first memory of Stan is the days he spent in California as The Convict. Stan's size was intimidating enough, but add "Classy" Freddie Blassie into the mixture and you had one of the best Heel duos to work the California territory ever.

I first met Stan in 1974 in Union City, Tennessee. I was still new to the business (less than a year) and still depended on my trainer (Mario Galento) for a lot of my bookings. Stan was running shows in Union City on Friday nights and was in need of a referee. Mario asked me if I would be interested and I jumped at the chance. The first match I ever worked for Stan was the main event featuring "Giant" Frazier & "Gentleman" Saul Weingeroff vs. The Stone Brothers. It was a privilege to work with two such greats as Stan and Saul. About three weeks later, Stan called me and said, "Grasshopper, you have the knack of pissing people off. Starting next week, you are managing The Executioners." (The Executioners were Richard Palmer and Jimmy Huddleston.) Heck those guys were the tag team champions and I had never managed ANYONE!

For some reason, Stan took a liking to this green-horned kid. Each week after the matches he would come to me and we would talk about what I did right or wrong and point out ways I could improve on what I had done. In those days, the seasoned vets were more inclined to help out the rookies than they are today. Stan took it one step farther with me and I'll always be grateful to him for that!

Stan was one of the best promoters I have ever worked for and there have been many of them over almost thirty years. Stan knew what the fans wanted and always tried to give it to them. He was more than fair to the boys with their pay and their status on the cards. Stan, the promoter, gave a lot of the young guys their first break into this business. The most notable was a young kid who helped set up the ring in Union City. This kid went on to a lot bigger things such as a stint in the WWF. The kid I am speaking of is none other than "The Bird Man" Koko B. Ware.