Bill Bogash

Bogash, circa 1942

Bill "Flash" Bogash (November 22, 1916 – March 20, 2009) was a roller derby skater and coach.

Born in Chicago, he began his career in 1935 during the Great Depression, and skated until 1958.[1]

Bogash's career began after he and his mother attended the first Transcontinental Roller Derby in Chicago on August 13, 1935, a six-week race that tracked skaters' total distance traveled in laps around a track on a US map. He and his mother, Josephine 'Ma' Bogash joined the second race in September of that year, in Kansas. After racing with many teams throughout the 1940s, Bogash led the New York Chiefs to their first Roller Derby World Championship in 1949. Towards the end of his career, Bogash skated for the Los Angeles Braves.

After retirement in 1958, Bogash went on to be a restaurateur in Los Angeles, California, with some of the most incredible steaks and twice-cooked potatoes on Earth! He died of respiratory failure on March 20, 2009.

He was inducted into the National Roller Derby Hall of Fame in 1953[1][2]

  1. ^ a b McLellan, Dennis (March 27, 2009). "Bill Bogash dies at 92; pioneering Roller Derby star". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
  2. ^ "National Roller Derby Hall of Fame: Events and Inductees". Archived from the original on 16 February 2009. Retrieved March 27, 2009.