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12-29-2001
Sam Solon
1931 - 2001
'He never forgot Duluth'
NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Minnesota State Sen. Sam Solon, the dean of the region's legislative
delegation and one of Duluth's most influential politicians of the past 30
years, died Friday at St. Mary's Medical Center.
Solon, who represented much of western Duluth at the state Capitol, succumbed
to the liver cancer he had been fighting since January. He was 70.
Chemotherapy at St. Luke's in Duluth and at a clinic in Houston failed to
stop the cancer that first showed up as skin cancer in 1984, reappearing on
Solon's liver early this year.
A wake has been scheduled for Friday at the Duluth Entertainment Convention
Center, with funeral services Saturday in the DECC Auditorium and a reception
following in the Lake Superior Ballroom, Duluth Mayor Gary Doty said Friday.
The son of Greek immigrants who settled in Duluth's Central Hillside, Solon
was among the city's most popular politicians of his time, winning re-election
by wide margins.
The soft-spoken Solon seemed to know just about everyone in Duluth by name
and used his popularity to easily overcome political opponents as well as the
battle over illegal use of his Senate long-distance telephone privileges in
1993.
Solon, a DFLer who many friends and colleagues in and out of politics called
simply "Senator Sam,'' was known at the Capitol more for his dogged efforts
to promote Duluth economic development than for impassioned speeches or personal
causes.
"That was his cache. The classic Greeks like Sam are generally thinkers.
Hard workers. But not overtly emotional,'' said U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, a
longtime friend of Solon. "For Sam, it was 'Can the speeches, let's build
relationships.' And he became a tremendously successful legislator for it.''
A moderate Democrat who sided with pro-business Republicans as often as the
liberal wing of his own party, Solon was instrumental in pressing key
legislation for Duluth and Northeastern Minnesota -- especially projects at the
University of Minnesota Duluth and Northwest Airlines facilities in Duluth and
Chisholm.
Solon also pressed for and won state aid for the Duluth Entertainment
Convention Center, the Interstate 35 expansion, Lake Superior College, the
Seaway Port Authority of Duluth, Lake Superior Zoo and the Great Lakes Aquarium.
"Every place you look in town, there's Sam Solon's signature on the
buildings,'' Doty said. "I can't think of any elected official who has done
more for Duluth than Sam.''
While many efforts by lawmakers go mostly unnoticed by the public, Solon told
the News Tribune in June that he could see the fruits of his legislative labor
as he drove across Duluth.
"A lot of times I'll be driving alone and I wish I had my grandkids or
my family in the car to say, 'Look at this. This is what your daddy or your
grandaddy did,''' Solon said.
In August, Solon was honored for his efforts at UMD with the naming of the
Solon Campus Center building. Dignitaries came from Duluth, the Iron Range, St.
Paul and across the state for a ceremony that, at times, seemed like a farewell
to the longtime legislator.
At the ceremony, Solon, a UMD graduate, said he was awed by the honor.
"It's an honor for our family. We grew up pretty poor, on welfare
relief. Thankfully, there's places to go like UMD,'' he said.
Earlier this year, the DECC named its board room after Solon.
Solon was active in Duluth's Greek community and was a member of Twelve Holy
Apostles Greek Orthodox Church.
"That connection, to his church and his heritage, was very much a part
of who he was,'' Oberstar said.
Solon continued to serve this year but missed much of the 2001 legislative
session during his cancer treatments. He had hoped to battle the disease into
remission so he could finish his term through 2002. His condition deteriorated
rapidly in recent days, however, and he slipped into a coma this week.
Solon is survived by his wife, Yvonne Prettner Solon, a former Duluth city
councilor who has battled cancer herself; sons Jon and Chris; daughters Dina
Webb and Vicki Smoyer; his mother, Dimitra Solon; a sister, Bess Solon, and
brothers Vlasie, Chris and Louis Solon.
Another son, Nicholas, died in January. Solon's first wife, Carole Solon
Schwanz, from whom he was divorced, died in 1991.
DEAN OF THE DELEGATION
Solon was elected to the House in 1970, his first swing at politics. He
served two years in the House, then ran for the Senate when a seat opened
because of redistricting. He served 29 years in the Senate and never faced a
close election.
He was the Senate's second-most senior member, a politician who preferred
behind-the-scenes dealmaking over fiery speeches. A moderate, Solon had support
from both labor unions and business groups.
He served for a decade as the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee that
oversaw state laws on business, banking and consumer protection. He helped
broker critical deals on state issues such as workers' compensation reform,
medical insurance and HMOs, and professional sports facilities.
"Sam had an amazing ability to bring people together. He made everyone
feel that they had a role in the process. He had extremely good skills as a
legislator,'' said Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe, a longtime friend and DFL
ally.
Solon worked closely with the late Rep. Willard Munger, another veteran DFLer
from Duluth, who died in 1999. The two worked especially well together in
attracting local projects funded by the state's construction bonding bill.
While Munger was fueled by his passion for the environment, Solon's politics
seemed more inspired by bringing state-financed projects to his hometown and by
the art and sport of political persuasion.
"He was effective because he had a lot of friends in the Legislature,''
said Judge Gerald Heaney, a senior judge with the U.S. Court of Appeals in
Duluth and a longtime powerbroker in the DFL party. "They respected him and
worked with him.''
Moe said Solon balanced the needs of his hometown and local constituents with
his role as a statewide leader.
"He never forgot Duluth, the people who elected him,'' Moe said.
"He could have CEOs or constituents from his district in his office; he
treated everyone with respect.''
Davis Helberg, executive director of the Seaway Port Authority of Duluth,
said Solon was often a tough sell to convince that a port project was
worthwhile. But once Solon adopted a project as a cause, "you knew you had
a pretty good shot at getting it,'' Helberg said.
"He was instrumental in getting the Port Development Assistance Program
started... Most people have never heard of it. But for us, and the ports along
the Mississippi River, it's been instrumental in our renovations and
operations,'' Helberg said.
Solon was close to former Gov. Rudy Perpich and many members of the Iron
Range legislative delegation. He often forged alliances with Range lawmakers,
especially during the region's economic decline in the 1980s.
"I don't think you could find any other human being who fought so hard
for Duluth and our region. His shoes will be extremely hard to fill,'' said
state Sen. Doug Johnson, DFL-Tower, who also represents eastern Duluth. "We
worked together on a lot of issues. He forged a great coalition with the Iron
Range... But of all the accomplishments he had, I think bringing Northwest
Airlines to the region was the greatest. He played a critical role in that.''
Oberstar agreed, noting that Solon's relationship with key lawmakers and
businessmen helped seal the 1991 deal that saw Northwest build a maintenance
base in Duluth and reservation center in Chisholm in exchange for timely state
loans to the airline. The deal is credited with keeping Northwest afloat as it
teetered on bankruptcy and with creating hundreds of jobs in Northeastern
Minnesota.
While many politicians cut deals with threats or promises, Solon often won
opponents over with a smile or a wink, friends said.
"It was Sam's relationships with key people that he had built up over
the years that was so critical in making the Northwest package a reality,''
Oberstar said.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Born in Duluth's Central Hillside neighborhood in 1931, Solon grew up in a
family of Greek immigrants. His parents, Nick and Dimitra Eliopoulos, changed
their name to Solon, which means "legislator'' or "senator'' in Greek.
Solon spoke often of the family's poverty, of how he sold newspapers along
Duluth's waterfront to help the family manage. He graduated from Central High
School and worked a series of labor jobs. After serving in the Army in Europe
during the Korean War, he graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth with
a teaching degree. He taught social studies at Stowe Elementary and Morgan Park
Middle School.
Eli Miletich, a former Duluth police chief, knew Solon growing up in Duluth.
The two played on a championship intramural football team at UMD. But they had a
falling out in the late 1980s when Miletich's boss, then-Mayor John Fedo,
battled Solon on some issues. Miletich even ran against Solon in the 1992 Senate
election.
"It was more to do with the (DFL) party being too far to the left at
that time, not so much Sam,'' Miletich said.
The two later mended their friendship.
"Sam fought for his district. He was looking out for Duluth and
Northeastern Minnesota foremost,'' Miletich said. "He was very loyal to
Duluth.''
BOUNCING BACK
Solon went through a public battle with alcohol abuse, including a
drunken-driving arrest. But he continued to win his political races by wide
margins, even after a 1995 fraud conviction in connection with the Legislature's
Phonegate scandal in 1993.
Solon gave his ex-wife and others his Senate telephone code, which they used
to make long-distance calls at taxpayer expense.
During the three years that the Phonegate scandal dragged on, Solon repaid
almost $5,000 in phone charges, apologized on the Senate floor, was formally
reprimanded by the Senate Ethics Committee and lost his committee chairmanship
for almost a year.
Even though a Twin Cities newspaper columnist called him "a poster boy
for everything that is wrong with the DFL'' in 1993, Solon recovered from the
scandal. In 1996, he won re-election with an astounding 63 percent of the vote.
In 2000, he won with nearly 80 percent of votes cast.
"It's kind of old hat,'' Solon said in June when asked about Phonegate.
"The public remembers what it wants to remember. The public is very
understanding.''
Moe said most lawmakers also forgave Solon.
"No one disliked Sam. They may have disagreed with him, but no one
disliked him. He was extremely kind and very humble, very trusting,'' Moe said.
"If he had a fault, it was that he may have been too trusting. That's what
got him into (the telephone scandal) trouble, not any kind of malice.''
Staff writer Martiga Lohn contributed to this story. | 
