As Director of Press Operations for the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee and a member of the International Olympic Committee's press commission, Dworshak worked diligently to ensure that media covering the event had everything they needed—from punctual transportation to working pencil sharpeners.

"These were the most perfectly operational games I've been to," says Bob Condron, Director of Media Services for the U.S. Olympic Committee. "It was incredible. He's the reason."

Shortly after the games, on Tuesday, April 9, 2002, Dworshak died in a Los Angeles hospital. He was 48.

Dworshak worked with Perelman Pioneer and Company in Los Angeles at the time of his death. He started his career as a sports publicist at the University of Oregon and the University of Washington. He also worked with the public relations staff of two professional football teams and the Super Bowl XXVII Host Committee. He helped organize media operations for the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

Condron met Dworshak in 1984, when they were both working on the Los Angeles games. He remembers thinking he looked just like Vincent Van Gogh. "He always had a smile, a thinning head of hair usually covered by an Oregon Duck hat," says Condron. "I remember him for being extremely organized and professional. He was also one of the best human beings—he had a kind heart, and he made you feel special."

Dworshak was a behind-the-scenes person who paid attention to the little details that often go unnoticed but make an enormous difference in the success of sports events. According to Condron, "He thrived on problems, sometimes the smaller the better." At the Salt Lake City games, he oversaw everything from the main media center at Salt Palace to the power outlets in the bobsled workroom.

"He's gonna be missed, not only for his knowledge, but for the kind of guy he was," says Condron. "We're all going to miss what he could have shared with us for the next 20 years and what we could have learned sitting with him at a hole-in-the-wall bar somewhere. We could have learned class from Bruce, and kindness and patience and a bunch of other good words like that."

He was scheduled to fly to Italy in April to report on the success of the 2002 Olympics and share ideas with media organizers for the Torino Olympics. The last time his friend Bob Condron saw him, he was in his Salt Lake City office, closing it down. He was very pleased with the way the games had gone. He had on his UO hat, and he was packing up the office.

Contributions to the Bruce Dworshak Memorial Scholarship may be made to the UO Foundation/Journalism at P.O. Box 3346, Eugene, Oregon 97403. Call (541) 346-3819.