Mack Miller

American cross country skier (1931–2020)

For other people named Mack Miller, see Mack Miller (disambiguation).

Mack Miller

Full name| Andrew Markley Miller
Born| (1931-10-15)October 15, 1931
Died| February 16, 2020(2020-02-16) (aged 88)
Spouse(s)| Rita Miller

Andrew Markley "Mack" Miller (October 15, 1931 – February 16, 2020) was an American cross-country skier, trainer, and high school teacher. He represented the United States twice at the Winter Olympics. The son of a children's fiction writer (and of a newspaper editor who died young), he was a topic of one of her books and of a later book by another author.

## Career

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Miller studied at Western State College of Colorado. He represented the university in various cross-country skiing tournaments.[1]

Miller was the national champion in cross-country skiing of 1955[2] and represented the United States in the Winter Olympics of 1956 and 1960.[3][4]

In 1955, he was the highest-ranked American cross-country skier in the Nordic Championship.[5] Along with Sven Johansson from Anchorage, Mack Miller was the most prominent American cross-country skier of his era. (Sven Johansson, however, could represent the United States only in the 1960 Olympics because of his naturalization process.[6])

### Highlights

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* 1956 –– Competed in Olympic Men's 4x10 km Cross-country Ski Relay, ranked 12th with personal time in the 2nd leg of 0:37:22 and total team time of 2:32:04. Relay teammates were Ted Farwell, Larry Damon and Marvin Crawford.[7]

## Family and legacy

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Miller was born in Salt Lake City. He is the son of children's fiction author Helen Markley Miller. Mack and his sport formed the inspiration for Helen's sixth novel, Ski fast, ski long (1960). He is also featured in the 2012 book Brundage Mountain – Best Snow in Idaho by Eve Chandler.[8]

Miller and his wife Rita lived in Idaho. They had a son, Ralph, and a daughter, Karla.[9] Miller died on February 16, 2020, at the age of 88.[10][11]

## References

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1. ^ "St. Petersburg Times - Google News Archive Search". google.com.
2. ^ "Spokane Daily Chronicle - Google News Archive Search".
3. ^ "McCall, Idaho News - for Masters World Cup competitors, waxing is art and science". Archived from the original on 2008-08-21. Retrieved 2009-12-11.
4. ^ "Search Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18.
5. ^ "Finland Still Tops Nordic Ski Meet". The Spokesman-Review. 1958-03-08. p. 3. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
6. ^ "Spokane Daily Chronicle - Google News Archive Search". google.com.
7. ^ "VII Olympic Winter Games" (PDF). Official Olympic Reports. 1956: 615. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
8. ^ "Thanks for Sharing! - Brundage Mountain". Archived from the original on 2015-10-03. Retrieved 2015-08-23.
9. ^ "(D) District 8 State Rep. A: Karla Miller". Idaho Press-Tribune. 19 October 2012.
10. ^ "Andrew M. (Mack) Miller – Bowman Funeral Directors".
11. ^ "Remembering WCU Hall of Famers Mac Miller and Wolfgang Taylor".