Attention

The opinions expressed by columnists are their own and do not represent our advertisers

Monday, March 21, 2016

Subject: 'Gold Rush' star John Schnabel dead at 96

John Schnabel, one of the stars of the Discovery Channel reality series "Gold Rush" who owned the Big Nugget mine in Porcupine Creek, Alaska, died Friday morning in his sleep, according to his family. He was 96.

Born in Kansas in 1920, Schnabel was during his life a bootlegger who fled to Alaska to escape the authorities and later, a soldier in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He married Erma Dire in 1950 and the couple went on to have five children together. He became a gold miner late in life, entering the trade to keep active after undergoing triple bypass surgery in 1986.

More

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awwwww

Steve said...

He got to see his grandson become a millionaire by mining gold! He was so happy to see this.

RIP, John, you primed a great pump!

Anonymous said...

Although I didn't watch the show much I did see John and his grandson. I could feel the love. I liked the grandson because he was young and learned a lot. He had a lot of leadership potential.

Anonymous said...

he was the best man on the show!!!

Anonymous said...

You could tell that John was a great man and he did live to see his son's success. With that being said his son did not turn out to be a good leader.

I know its a reality show and many times people are portrayed a certain way by the editors but he seemed to be an ass to his workers so much that he has a ridiculous turn over rate.

For someone to be as successful as his grandson and yet keep having people quit or decide to not return shows a lot about his leadership style.

Over all though his grandson Parker did get results and that is something that John could take to his grave and leave behind as a legacy to be proud of.

Anonymous said...

When his brother River fatally overdosed at the Viper Room, Joaquin was the an individual
who called 911. But his life off-screen has been more interesting than any character he has
played on-screen.