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A utility worker from Milwaukie, Oregon won
the Powerball jackpot of over $182.7 million
on Saturday 17 March. He opted to take the prize
in cash rather than a series of annual payments,
and the result is that he gets $88 million,
leading some lottery journalists (namely us)
to call him The 88 Million Dollar Man!
The winner has been named as Daniel Gannon,
aged 60. Daniel works at the Portland General
Electric company and has done so for 35 years.
He spent $5 on a Quick Pick ticket at his local
Safeway store and the rest, to coin a phrase,
is history.
Many lottery players dream about winning so
that they can experience at least fifteen minutes
of fame. They fantasise about getting their
picture in the newspaper, being filmed by a
television news team as they collect their cheque
and generally living something of a celebrity
life, if only for a while.
But not Daniel Gannon. This modest Powerball
millionaire politely declined when he was given
the opportunity of meeting the press, and he
didn't want his photograph taken either. We
think that was a good decision, as it allows
Daniel to enjoy his multi-millions in relative
peace and quiet and without the press intrusion
that sometimes drives winners to the point of
despair.
The Safeway store which sold Daniel his winning
ticket will receive a bounty worth $100,000.
We would have thought that selling a ticket
that won a jackpot in excess of $182.7 million
deserves a bigger bounty than that, but maybe
we're just used to seeing Mega Millions be a
lot more generous in that respect.
Without compromising Daniel's request for privacy,
we can tell you that he is most interested in
making trips to see his children who live in
various different parts of the USA. He also
wants to visit Ireland, though it seems that
the "Luck of the Irish" is already
something in his possession!
20 March, 2007
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