Garrett SERVISS

The son of a famous author, Garrett Serviss’s first athletic success was in 1900 at the Caledonian Games when he won the high jump. He entered Princeton in 1899, but left in 1901 to enroll at Cornell. In 1900, representing Princeton, he tied for third in the IC4A high jump and in 1904 he was fourth in the same event for Cornell. At the 1904 Olympics, Serviss won a jump-off for second with the German, Paul Weinstein, and finished fourth in the triple jump.

Serviss’ father, also Garrett Putnam Serviss, was an astronomer, science fiction writer, and journalist. In 1894 he was asked by Andrew Carnegie to give The Urania Lectures on astronomy, cosmology, and geology. Serviss, Sr. toured the US for over two years delivering these lectures, and then became a popular speaker in New York. He wrote 15 books, 8 of which focused on astronomy, and 6 of which were science fiction novels. He was also an avid mountain climber, once having summitted the Matterhorn.

Personal Best: HJ – 6-4½ (1.943) (1903).