\u201cScanner Dan\u201d Mathison, the garrulous, bearded fella you may have spotted kicking around near the University of Wisconsin campus in recent decades, has died at 62.<\/p>\n
The cause was congenital heart disease, according to his sister Lori Mathison, who also says<\/a> he preferred the name \u201cFireman Dan.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Thong Cape Scooter Man<\/a> or Piccolo Man<\/a>, Dan Mathison was a regular outsized presence in the Library Mall area of State Street. He was also something of a Madison folk hero \u2014 drawings of him<\/a> can be found in guest rooms at the nearby Graduate Hotel.<\/p>\n Former UW students will almost certainly remember Mathison, whose easy charm earned him an honorary membership<\/a> in each sorority. At one point<\/a> a sorority bought him a Wisconsin Union membership and another paid for his apartment cleaning service. Mathison possessed a photographic memory that allowed him to remember the name of nearly everyone he met, even if it was just in passing<\/a>. (Especially the sorority members, whom Mathison called his \u201cwives.\u201d)<\/p>\n \u201cAll the fraternity guys are jealous of me because I\u2019ve got girls and they don\u2019t,\u201d he cracked to The Badger Herald <\/em>in 2003.<\/p>\n Heard that Madison, WI street legend \u201cScanner Dan\u201d Mathison passed away. He was a constant presence on State St. for decades and had an impeccable memory for faces. I graduated in \u201895\u2013he remembered me when I was there in 2014. He was a piece of the community & will be missed.<\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Masin (@AdamMMasin) September 22, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n