Dell Schanze

Dell Schanze (born 1969) is an American entrepreneur, who, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, "has made a name for himself by pushing the envelope professionally and personally" with highly opinionated radio and television advertising campaigns in Salt Lake City pushing his businesses as well as his personal viewpoints.

Dell Schanze was the founder of Totally Awesome Computers, which at its zenith successfully operated nine stores along the Wasatch Front in Utah. His moniker "SUPERDELL" (written as one word in capital letters) and his business became household names in Utah in the late 1990s. He is known for his zany, unrehearsed and sometimes controversial commercial advertisements as well as for his multiple news appearances reporting his conflicts involving the police.

He is a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights and openly admits to having a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Businesses

Dell Schanze founded Totally Awesome Computers in 1996. TAC closed its doors in 2006 after a series of negative news reports regarding Schanze's business life, and two discrimination/harassment lawsuits brought by former employees.

Schanze also owned Totally Awesome Guns and Range, an indoor shooting range; as well as a distributorship of powered paraglider products (Totally Awesome Flying Sports).

All three of these businesses are now defunct. Totally Awesome Flying Sports is currently owned and operated by Bill Heiner.

Commercials

Dell Schanze has made attention-grabbing and often critical remarks AbOUT competitors and other people in his ads. Some of the people and companies his ads commented upon include Micron Technology, Gateway, Inc., Bill Gates, the Better Business Bureau, the mayor of Provo, Utah, the Shiffer Indians (a fictional Native American Indian tribe), homosexuals, and a Salt Lake City dentist who threatened suit against Schanze alleging defamation. While the computer store was in business, Schanze posted his infamous commercials on his web site in MP3 format. Although they have since been removed, the listing of titles is available at Archive.org 1. The list alone is quite telling of the style and personality of the commercials. Though the MP3 files do not appear to be present in the archive of his Web site, one notable exception is an audio file of a radio commercial in which Schanze criticizes the local Better Business Bureau here.

Powered Paragliding

Schanze is noted for his hobby of powered paragliding, which is a form of ultralight aviation where the pilot wears a small motor on his back, and runs into the air with lift from a paraglider wing. In the Salt Lake City area, the sport is firmly associated with "SUPERDELL" Schanze due to the local media's broadcast of multiple appearances in the news involving Schanze's paragliding activities.

On May 24, 2006, police in Draper, Utah responded to reports of a motorized paraglider flying over I-15 at about the height of a two-story building. Police received reports that Schanze was the pilot and that he was flying low enough that witnesses feared he might crash. Utah Highway Patrol troopers said drivers were watching the paraglider rather than the road. Schanze was given a $300 fine and one year of probation; Dell entered a "no contest" plea. In a well-publicized news segment filmed outside the courthouse after his sentencing, one of Schanze's fans indicated displeasure with the ruling and paid the $300 fine herself on his behalf.

In June 2003, Schanze executed an emergency landing of his powered paraglider in an open field in Magna. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that on June 15, his canopy collapsed about 75 feet above the ground, but was fortunately saved by an emergency backup chute installed on his gear. The article characterizes his flying skills with only ten months of experience at the time as "excellent" but questions his judgment and his decision to fly in windy conditions with gusts in the area up to 32 mph at the time, which entails significantly more risk than flying in calm winds.

A 2006 weapons incident alleged by the media was reported to have taken place during Schanze's travel to a paragliding park in Draper, Utah. Although Schanze faced weapons charges, he was later acquitted.

Notable incidents

  • In November 2003, William "Carl" May, Schanze's former vice president and friend, sued, claiming to be held back from promotion for religious and ethnic discrimination. The suit was later settled out-of-court for undisclosed terms.
  • Schanze was subsequently sued for defamation by May and another former employee, (Sherri Young, former TAC company financial auditor) for comments Schanze made about them in a Salt Lake City Weekly article. Young's suit was later dismissed.
  • On May 21, 2005 Schanze was charged with "threatening with or using a dangerous weapon in a fight or quarrel" (a class A misdemeanor), reckless driving (a class B misdemeanor), and "false written statement" (a class B misdemeanor). The charges stemmed from an incident that occurred Schanze was reportedly speeding and driving recklessly through a Draper, Utah neighborhood. This precipitated a confrontation between Schanze and neighborhood residents during which Schanze allegedly brandished a Glock handgun. Neighborhood residents were not charged with any crimes. Schanze was found guilty of making a false written statement about a cell phone call. The reckless driving charge was reduced to a speeding charge (to which Schanze entered a Guilty plea). Schanze was given a fine and probation on August 9, 2006 for the false statement charge and the speeding ticket.
  • On May 24, 2006 Schanze was accused of "inappropriate" use of his powered paraglider. He pleaded "no contest" to public nuisance charges for flying his paraglider along I-15 during morning rush hour. The FAA issued Schanze a warning letter regarding the incident. KSL News
  • On September 7, 2007 Schanze flew his powered paraglider across the bow — within feet — of a tour boat on the Great Salt Lake. His probation from his prior "inappropriate use" expired two weeks prior. KSL News

Schanze and the media

Schanze frequently claims that he is portrayed in a sensationalistic and biased manner by the news media, and points out what he refers to as "the evil lies of the news media".

To address Schanze's claims that the media has treated him unfairly, a reporter from the TV station KSL offered to do a story on Schanze that attempts to portray him favorably. The story, which aired May 12, 2006 and was filmed primarily in his house, shows him enjoying his various hobbies, including his computers with notably oversize displays and his participation in powered paragliding, as well as a glimpse of his family life. Additionally, the entire unedited footage lasting nearly an hour was published on KSL's web site, along with the final broadcasted news segment, which was edited to fit within an appropriate time constraint.

In the KSL.com online comment boards, Schanze registered and indicated his approval and pleasure with the way he was portrayed in that broadcast.

Further reading

See Also

Earthquake Preparedness Salt Lake City

The Earthquake Threat in Salt Lake CityIn 1994, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake struck Northridge, a...

Cheboigan Band aka Burt Lake Band of Indians

'''The Cheboigan Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians''' were a northern lower Michigan historic...

Salt and Demetri the Greek

Salt and Demetri the Greek host the morning show at 96 Rock in Raleigh, NC. They started together...

The Lake of Stars

The 'Lake of Stars' is the lyrical and poetic nickname given to Lake Malawi. It has also been...