MANSFIELD, Ohio — Sally Lanyon had no idea her creation would become a legendary entity, but that’s exactly what happened.
Lanyon, a 1963 Mansfield Senior graduate, and her college friend Ray Bourhis invented Brutus Buckeye 50 years ago on the front lawn of her Pi Beta Phi sorority house on Ohio State’s main campus.
This fall Ohio State is celebrating the 50th birthday of Brutus. To commemorate the occasion, Lanyon and Bourhis collaborated on a book, “The Autobiography of Brutus Buckeye, as told to his parents.”
Lanyon and Bourhis are cast as the mascot’s parents, and the story of Brutus is told through the mascot’s voice.
“The way we wrote it, when it was [Ray’s] turn to edit or add stuff, I wasn’t allowed to touch [the manuscript] and vice-versa,” Lanyon said.
The book, published by Orange Frazer Press and retailing for $19.95, is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble book stores.
It starts with the birth of Brutus, and follows his path through the years.
“Back in 1965 there was no mascot,” Lanyon said. “Ray was from New York, and he had a broader view of life than I did. I was just a small-town girl who was huge over her TY-Tygers.
“We talked about what our mascot should be. Me being from Ohio, I knew Buckeye was our state tree, but we didn’t think a tree would work, and (shortening the name to Bucks) you couldn’t bring a deer on to the field. So we came up with the Buckeye nut.”
It became a Homecoming project and the sorority turned its attention toward the prototype for a mascot. Using a wooden frame with chicken wire and a papier-mached head, the infant Brutus was painted brown with big blue eyes, a smile and eyebrows that could move on dowels.
At halftime of the 1965 Homecoming game against Minnesota, Brutus made his first big public appearance. The crowd loved it. Brutus was here to stay.
“In those days we didn’t know it was going to be such a big thing,” Lanyon said. “It was for the spirit of the school.”
Brutus saw his parents, Sally and Ray, graduate and leave campus. Bourhis is an attorney in San Francisco. Lanyon is an Organizational Development Consultant in Tucson. Meanwhile, their only child has slowly become an Ohio State legend. The care and feeding of Brutus went from Block O, to the cheerleaders, with the athletic council contributing, too.
In his book, Brutus tells of transforming from a popular costume that consumed most of a dancing body, to a head that now sits atop an energetic acrobat. Brutus evolved from the duty of a last-cut cheerleader candidate to a prized, 20-hour per week position that runs on the field with the football team, leads cheers at basketball games, and makes guest appearances at charity events, hospitals, and a variety of drop-ins throughout Ohio and beyond.
It hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Brutus has been kidnapped four times over the years. His head was once found in a dumpster. He suspects Michigan scoundrels in the abductions, though no formal charges have ever been filed.
There was a fight to subsidize his appearance at the Rose Bowl in the early 1970s. Today, the university wouldn’t think of allowing Brutus to miss a big game.
In 2003, Brutus was voted Capital One National Mascot of the Year.
Lanyon said she and Bourhis drifted apart after college, and were largely forgotten in their role with Brutus until 2005. Neither was invited back for the 40th anniversary of Brutus, an oversight then-president Karen Holbrook deemed unacceptable. The following year, both were brought back for the Homecoming Parade amid a “Where’s Brutus?” theme.
“We got to ride in the Brutus Mobile (a car fashioned in Ashland),” Lanyon said. “It was really something special.”
They have been involved with the mascot ever since. When sitting in on a planning meeting for the golden anniversary of Brutus, the idea was hatched to write a book. Lanyon dove into the research to find names of students who portrayed Brutus in the early years. Then came a code of silence about the identity of Brutus, so the focus shifted toward anecdotes of the mascot.
She accessed Ohio State archives and back issues of the Lantern (OSU’s student newspaper) in a quest to find photos of her baby through the years.
She and Bourhis started writing in April and completed a first draft by June 1. A hard deadline of Aug. 15 was met for final copy and pictures. The book was printed on Sept. 28.
Lanyon said a fundraising effort is underway to launch a scholarship endowment for the student portraying Brutus. In the past, Brutus Buckeye only received books. But with the expanding role, the mascot’s commitment should have compensation, Lanyon said.
Bourhis and Lanyon returned to Columbus this weekend to be recognized at halftime of the Minnesota game, a fitting tribute against the same foe that Brutus made his debut.
Even today, Lanyon is taken aback by her creation.
“I really don’t think I got what it meant to be an Ohio State fan until my first football game. I got there and looked around and I thought ‘There are more people here than live in my hometown,’ ” Lanyon said. “For Brutus to be such a big part of the university to this day, it’s just a wonderful thing.”
