TO EDGAR (Final tributes – Part IV)

It seemed to be an unending list – but there is relief in sight.   Here goes:

MY MOST VIVID MEMORY OF EDGAR AT THE BRIDGE TABLE IS THAT HE WAS A GREAT COMPETITIOR WHO BOTH WON AND LOST WITH DIGNITY.  AWAY FROM THE TABLE HE WAS A PERSON WHO WORKED TIRELESSLY TO MAKE THE GAME BETTER AND MORE ENJOYABLE FOR ALL OF US.

APPROXIMATELY TWENTY YEARS AGO  I PURCHASED A LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION TO THE BRIDGE WORLD AT A BARGAIN PRICE OF $125 AND BELIEVED THAT I HAD GOTTEN THE BETTER OF EDGAR.  OVER THE YEARS I ESPEWED HIS VIEWS IN THOUGHTS AND DEEDS MORE AND MORE.   EVENTUALLY REALIZATION ARRIVED – I HAD BECOME A DISCIPLE.  EDGAR  HAD GOTTEN THE BETTER OF ME!  WE ARE ALL BETTER OFF FOR HAVING BEEN ABLE TO ASSOCIATE WITH EDGAR.   /S/ JOHN SUTHERLIN

EDGAR WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE I MOST ENJOYED SEEING AT THE NATIONALS.   BEING APPOINTED TO THE LAWS COMMISSION WAS A  THRILL.  I SOON LEARNED THAT ONE WASN’T JUST EDUCATED AT THE LAWS MEETINGS.  HE AND RALPH COHEN MADE IT A HIGHLIGHT AT THE NATIONALS.   A GREAT SENSE OF HUMOR EDGAR HAD.   WE WEREN’T JUST EDUCATED ON LAWS AT THE LAWS COMMISSION MEETING.  WE WERE ENTERTAINED BY THE GREATEST.  /S/ PEGGY BERRY SUTHERLIN

I MET EDGAR IN 1958 AS A SCORE CADDY; AND THEN AS THE YEARS ROLLED BY, I NEW HIM AS ONE OF MY DAD’S TEAMMATES, AS A FELLOW GNYBA BOARD MEMBER, AN OPPONENT, A PARTNER AND EVENTUALLY,  AS A TEAMMATE.   EDGAR WAS AT HIS BEST AS A GNYBA AND ACBL BOARD MEMBER.   IN THOSE DAYS  THE GNYBA WAS A HOTBED OF IDEALISM, GREAT IDEAS, HIGH HOPES AND LOTS OF ORATORY.   EDGAR WAS THE AUTHORITY ON ALL THAT WENT ON.   WHEN THERE WERE TWO (OR MORE) SIDES TO AN ISSUE, HE EMPLOYED HIS ONE-TWO PUNCH – GREAT WIT AND INCISIVE LOGIC – TO PERSUADE MYSELF AND OTHERS AS TO THE RIGHT COURSE OF ACTION.  

MY BRIDGE HIGHLIGHT WITH EDGAR OCCURRED WHEN WE WON THE 1981 VANDERBILT.  HE PLAYED ALL THE BOARDS, SOME WITH MY 76-YEAR OLD FATHER, AND BEAT THE ACES IN THE FINAL.   EDGAR’S TEAMS ALWAYS CONSISTED OF WELL LIKED PEOPLE AND HIS MANY VICTORIES WERE POPULAR AMONGST HIS PEERS.   EDGAR STOOD BY HIS OWN ADAGE  — “I ONLY PLAY ON TEAMS WITH PEOPLE I WOULD HAVE DINNER WITH.’”

EVERYONE IN THE BRIDGE WORLD HAS BEEN TOUCHED BY EDGAR’S CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GAME.   I CAN THINK OF NO OTHER BRIDGE PLAYER WHOSE LOSS WOULD BE MORE FELT THAN HIS.  /S/ MIKE BECKER

EDITH AND I SHARED WITH EDGAR MANY THINGS AWAY FROM THE BRIDGE TABLE WHICH EVOKE FOND MEMORIES.   TRIPS TO FOREIGN COUNTIES, ENJOYING THE LOCAL CUISINE AND GOOD WINES, ANIMATED DISCUSSIONS ABOUT HISTORY AND CULTURE, SPICED WITH ANECDOTES, EMERGE WITH GREAT CLARITY.  OUR COMMON INTEREST IN TENNIS MANIFESTED ITSELF DURING OUR VISITS TO THE U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS.   MY SERVICE IN THE LAWS COMMISSION DURING EDGAR’S CHAIRMANSHIP REINFORCED MY ADMIRATION OF HIS CLEAR THINKING AND BRILLIANT ANALYTICAL ABILITIES. 

I OFTEN  CALLED HIM ABOUT A POINT IN BRIDGE THEORY, AND HE NEVER FAILED TO PRODUCE APPROPRIATE CRITICAL ADVICE.   HE WAS THE EXPERT’S EXPERT, BUT ABOVE ALL,  A TRUE FRIEND.   HIS PARTNERSHIP WITH NORMAN ESTABLISHED THE HIGHEST STANDARD IN THE BRIDGE WORLD.   REST IN PEACE DEAR FRIEND.  YOUR PLACE AT THE BRIDGE GAME IN THE HEAVENLY HALL OF FAME IS WAITING FOR YOU.  /S/ EDITH AND GEORGE ROSENKRANZ

“WHEN TO THE SESSIONS OF SWEET SILENT THOUGHT I SUMMON UP REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST.’   I FIRST MET EDGAR WHILE STILL A STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, LEARNING SHAKESPEARE AND BRIDGE, NOT NECESSARILY IN THAT ORDER.  

IT WAS MY FIRST NATIONAL TOURNAMENT AND HE WAS MY FIRST ROUND DRAW.   I SENSED, IN MY FIRST OF NUMEROUS LOSSES TO HIM, A KINDRED SPIRIT THAT CONTINUED TO EXPAND THROUGH THE YEARS,  A MAN WHO TRULY LOVED AND RESPECTED THE GAME OF BRIDGE AND WHO PLAYED IT COMPETITIVELY, AS A GENTLEMAN, UNDER ITS RULES.   AFTER ONE OF US HAD LOST A CLOSE MATCH WE BEMUSEDLY DISCUSSED KIPLING’S LINE “IF YOU CAN MEET  WITH TRIUMPH AND DISASTER AND TREAT THOSE TWO IMPOSTERS JUST THE SAME.”   A FINE LINE, PERHAPS.  BUT WE DEFINITELY HAD A MEETING OF THE MINDS . 

WITH FOND REMEMBRANCES!        /S/ SUZY AND CHUCK BURGER

WHEN MY MOTHER WAS IN THE HOSPITAL LAST YEAR, EDGAR SENT HER A WONDERFUL NOTE CALLING HER A FIGHTER AND EXPRESSING HIS CONFIDENCE SHE WOULD WIN THE BATTLE.  THE NOTE MEANT A LOT TO MOM WHO HAD BEEN A FRIEND OF EDGAR’S SINCE THEIR COLLEGE DAYS (1942) AND WHO RESPECTED HIM GREATLY.   OF COURSE, THEY WERE BOTH GREAT FIGHTERS IN THE BEST SENSE OF THE WORD – NEVER GIVING UP AND ALWAYS TRYING TO MAKE THE BEST OF A BAD SITUATION   ALAS, DESPITE MONUMENTAL FIGHTS, DEATH PREVAILED.   I LIKE TO THINK OF THEM RELIVING THEIR CORNELL YOUTH IN BRIDGE PLAYER’S HEAVEN.    /S/ BONNIE BRIER

PRESSURE.   WHAT IS THAT?

FOR ME I THINK BACK TO THE 1976 VANDERBILT FINAL.  IT WAS MY FIRST FORAY INTO THE HIGH LEVELS OF BRIDGE.   I WAS A BIT NERVOUS, BUT MY PARTNER, THE LATE  JIM JACOBY, HAD DONE A FANTASTIC JOB OF KEEPING ME CALM.  I WAS READY TO PLAY!   THEY COULDN’T BEAT ME (THEY DID)!  WHOOPS, EDGAR WALKS INTO THE ROOM.   OH NO, HE’S COMING TO KIBBITZ ME, AND HE’S GOT A PEN AND PAPER 

PRESSURE, WHAT IS THAT?

I HAVE BEEN ASKED TO DO VUGRAPH COMMENTATING.   I AM PLEASED THAT THE POWERS THAT BE CONSIDER ME FOR THIS POSITION.  I’M SETTLING IN BEHIND THE MIKE, WHEN, ONCE AGAIN EDGAR SITS BESIDES ME.   YIKES, WHAT IF I MISANALYZE A HAND   WHAT IF I SAY SOMETHING THAT IS FUNNY TO ME AND NO ONE ELSE?   ALL I LIVE FOR AT THAT MOMENT IS ONE REMARK THAT EVOKES A MILD SMILE FROM EDGAR.  YOU COULDN’T HOPE FOR MORE THAN THAT.

THAT IS PRESSURE.

BUT FOR SOME REASON, ALMOST EVERYONE WHO FELT THE PRESSURE OF BEING AROUND EDGAR, DID THEIR BEST.   THAT IS WHAT I  WILL MISS MOST ABOUT HIM.  HE ALWAYS BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN PEOPLE, AND HE WILL BE MISSED.  /S/ DAVID BERKOWITZ

IF I HAD TO DESCRIBE EDGAR IN ONE WORD, IT WOULD BE ‘WITTY.’  WHENEVER WE WOULD SPEAK, OR I’D ASK HIM A QUESTION, I JUST KNEW THAT HIS REPLY WOUDL BE CLEVER.   YOU COULD INQUIRE ‘HOW DID YOU DO IN THE TOURNAMENT?’ AND BE ASSURED HIS REPLY WOULD NOT BER A SIMPLE ‘WELL’ OR ‘NOT WELL’   INSTEAD, YOU’D ANTICIPATE AND RECEIVE SOME CLEVER, MAYBE SELF-DEPRECATING, WORDS OF WIT, PERHAPS … ‘WELL, THAT DEPENDS ON..’    THEN HE’D ALEAYS PROCEED TO EMPLOY WORDS I’D NEVER HEARD OF WHILE RENDERING A HUMOROUS, PHILOSOPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF HIS TOURNAMENT.    /S/ LARRY COHEN

I AM SORRY THAT I MISSED THE DEADLINE, BUT WHO ON EARTH COULD POSSIBLY SHARE THOUGHTS AND MEMORIES OF EDGAR IN A LINE OR TWO?   EDGAR KAPLAN IS IRREPLACEABLE.   IF SAMUEL JOHNSON WAS RIGHT WHEN HE WROTE “GRIEF IS A SPECIES OF IDLENESS,’” THEN I AM AN IDLER.

EDGAR WAS ONE OF FIVE FRIENDS WHOM I LOST WITHIN A PERIOD OF 10 DAYS .. SO THE GOLDEN YEARS ARE NOT GOING WELL.

I WAS DELIGHTED WHEN EDGAR AGREED READILY TO JOIN ME, RAPEE AND SOLODAR IN BERMUDA.   HIS PRESENCE ADDED IMMENSE LUSTRE TO THE TOURNAMENT.  HE PLAYED BRIDGE WIH ELAN AND CUSTOMARY EXPERTISE, DELIGHTED THE PANEL AUDIENCE, ENTERTAINED US ALL AT DINNER AND INSISTED ON JOINING  US ON AN EXPEDIITON TO THE ZOO AND AQUARIUM – ALL THE TIME SUFFERING IN SILENCE.  /s/ GOREN OF THE NORTH (AS EDGAR SO QUAINTLY NAMED ME) .. alias ERIC R. MURRAY

The following are what I called Late Plays which came in after the program went to press, but I added them nevertheless …

WHEN BILL AND I WERE FIRST ENGAGED, HE TOOK ME TO THE HOSPITALITY ROOM AT THE 1956 NATIONALS IN NEW YORK WHERE HE INTRODUCED ME TO EDGAR.   EDGAR’S WELCOME, HIS CONVERSATION DURING THAT EVENING, AS WELL AS SUBSEQUENT ENCOUNTERS, ENDEARED HIM TO ME.   HE FIELDED QUESTIONS ON BRIDGE IMPARTIALLY (IF NOT SO SWIFTLY), JUST LISTENED CAREFULLY, AND TO ME WAS ALWAYS A COMPLEAT PERSON OUTSIDE OF BRIDGE, AS WELL AS AN EVEN-TEMPERED AND FEROCIOUS COMPETITOR.  THEY DON’T MAKE THEM LIKE THAT ANY MORE.   BRIDGE WILL MISS HIM.  /S/  EUNICE ROSEN

WHEN I WAS QUITE A YOUNG BRIDGE PLAYER EDGAR TOOK ME UNDER HIS WING DURING A VISIT TO NEW YORK.   HE TOOK ME TO SEE SIDNEY LENZ, A NOTED EARLY BRIDGE STAR.   SINCE THEN I ALWAYS THOUGHT FONDLY OF EDGAR AS LOOKING TO THE PAST OF BRIDGE, BEING A GREAT PLAYER IN THE PRESENT, AND HELPING TO IMPROVE AND SHEPHERD BRIDGE INTO THE FUTURE.  /S/ BILL ROSEN

EDGAR WAS SO MUCH OF THE BRIDGE WORLD FOR ME;  I ADMIRED HIS GREAT WIT FOR MANY YEARS BEFORE I EVER MET HIM.   WHEN I MET HIM TWLEVE YEARS AGO, HE BECAME ONE OF MY PERSONAL FAVORITES TO MOSTLY ENJOY FROM A BIT OF A DISTANCE; HE WAS SUCH A BRIGHT AND WITTY MAN!   HOW FORTUNATE THAT HE COULD ALSO BE SO KIND.      /S/ SALLY WOOLSEY

TO ME, EDGAR WILL ALWAYS BE THE LAWS AND ETHICS SPECIALIST OF BRIDGE.   IN FACT, HE WROTE SO MUCH OF THE LAWS OF BRIDGE, THE BOOK SHOULD BE CALLED “EDGAR KAPLAN’S LAWS OF BRIDGE.”  HE DID SO MANY THINGS FOR THE GAME AND HIS ENTHUSIASM NEVER DIMINSHED.

LAST YEAR IN RHODES, I WAS FORTUNATE TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH EDGAR.   I MARVELLED AT HIS SCHEDULE AS CHAIRMAN OF THE APPEALS COMMITTEE IN THE MORNING, CHIEF COMMENTATOR FOR THE AFTERNOON AND NIGHT SESSIONS AND IN BETWEEN CHAIRING THE WBF LAWS COMMITTEE, HE EVEN FOUND TIME TO PLAY A FEW SESSIONS IN THE MIXED TEAMS … AND  THIS FROM SOMEONE WHO WAS FIGHTING CANCER. 

WHEN EDGAR HAD SOMETHING TO SAY, THE WORLD LISTENED.   THANK YOU, EDGAR, FOR YOUR MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE GAME WE ALL LOVE.   /S/ DAN MORSE

And fittingly our last tribute is from the recently retired (2010) JOSE DAMIANI, after sixteen years as President of the WBF…..

AS PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BRIDGE FEDERATION AND ON BEHALF OF OUR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL, I MOURN THE LOSS OF OUR DEAR FRIEND, EDGAR KAPLAN.   EDGAR’S GIFT TO BRIDGE WAS NOT ONLY AS A WORLD CLASS PLAYER BUT ALSO AS THE CAPTAIN OF THE WINNING TEAM IN THE 1995 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.   HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE WBF WERE ENORMOUS.   EDGAR WAS CLEARLY THE BEST COMMENTATOR WE EVER HAD ON VUGRAPH, WHERE HIS HUMOUR WAS BRILLIANT AND NEVER OFFENSIVE.

EDGAR’S DEATH IS A GREAT LOSS, NOT ONLY FOR BRIDGE, BUT ALSO FOR ALL THE PEOPLE WHO PLAY THE GAME AND FOR WHOM EDGAR COULD NOT HAVE BEEN ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE MOST COURTEOUS FRIEND.   WE ALL MISS THE ‘GENTLEMAN OF BRIDGE.’

IN HONOR OF EDGAR KAPLAN, THE WORLD BRIDGE FEDERATION FLAG WAS FLOWN AT HALF MAST DURING THE TOURNAMENT IN HAMMAMET, TUNISIA.    /S/  JOSE DAMIANI