Howard Nicholson is best remembered for his great coaching career. Among his pupils were Sonja Henie (1931), Carlo Fassi, Mary Rose Thacker, Sonya Klopfer, Toller Cranston, and Priscilla Hill, who became the youngest USFSA Gold Medalist at the age of 9.

He began as a speed skater and hockey player, but around 1910 he began figure skating and started his professional career as a show skater, appearing at the Hippodrome in New York City, and later at the College Inn (Chicago). Howard won the Open Professional Championship of Great Britain in 1931, 32, and 33.  Regarded as a master of compulsory school figures, he recorded his theories in the book, ‘Nicholson on Figure Skating’, which laid the judging standards on how each should be performed.

Originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, he first taught in Europe, passing the ISU First Class (Gold) Test in 1926. He returned to the United States after World War II, and continued teaching in New York CIty, Detroit, and finally Lake Placid.

Posted by: Carl Moseley Last modified on: 10/23/10