FIRST 100 LIFE MASTERS
I received the following comment from an interested reader regarding the passing of Tobias Stone:
NS February 19th, 2012 at 12:08 am
Was Tobias Stone the last living member of the exclusive “First 100 Life Masters” club?
I couldn’t find info for only seven people (all seven earned the rank in 1947):
#63 Louis Newman
#66 Miss Florence Stratford
#67 Jules Bank
#68 William McGhee
#73 Dr. A. Steinberg
#86 Mark Hodges
#97 Linda Terry (Mrs. W. L.)
It was followed up with a verification that Jules Bank was deceased. If you know of the whereabouts of any of the others above (Louis Newman, Florence Stratford, William McGhee, Dr. A Steinberg, Mark Hodges or Linda Terry), it would take some of the mystery out of the air.
I found the following on the internet and was amazed how many of the first 100 I knew personally or by sight (and even had the thrill of playing with six of them on occasion an eternity ago).
The rank of Life Master was once the highest rank any bridge player could achieve. The designation was created by the American Bridge League in 1936 and the selection of the first Life Masters was based on national tournament successes. Below is a list of the very first 100 bridge players, on whom the rank of Life Master was bestowed.
As early as 1934, each of the three competing Bridge Organizations in the United States had a system of Master Point Awards in effect. Points won in one organization event, however, were not recognized by another organization, and as a result there was no uniform Master Point Program until the merger of the three organizations in 1936, under the name of the American Contract Bridge League. These bridge organizations were United States Bridge Association (Ely Culbertson), American Bridge League (formerly the American Auction Bridge League), and American Contract Bridge League.
As an interesting side note, the one person who brought the game of bridge to the American and European bridge playing public, Mr. Ely Culberson never attained the level of an ACBL Life Master, but he was named Honorary Member in 1938. Source: Biography of Mr. Ely Culbertson by ACBL. Mr. Alan Truscott addresses this fact also in his bridge article appearing in The New York Times, July 14, 1991, where he states: This was partly because his tournament appearances were rare and his victories very rare, but also partly because he was the head of a rival organization, the United States Bridge Association. The two bodies merged a year later, becoming the American Contract Bridge League.
1936 1. David Bruce
1936 2. Oswald Jacoby
1936 3. Howard Schenken
1936 4. Waldemar K. von Zedtwitz
1936 5. P. Hal Sims
1936 6. B. Jay Becker
1936 7. Theodore A. Lightner
1936 8. Richard L. Frey
1936 9. Michael T. Gottlieb
1936 10. Sam Fry Jr.
1936 11. Merwin D. Maier
1937 12. Charles S. Lochridge
1938 13. Charles H. Goren
1938 14. A. Mitchell Barnes
1939 15. Harry J. Fishbein
1939 16. Charles J. Solomon
1939 17. Sally Young
1939 18. Fred D. Kaplan
1939 19. John R. Crawford
1939 20. Walter Jacobs
1939 21. Morrie Elis
1940 22. Phil Abramsohn
1940 23. Edward Hynes Jr.
1940 24. Alvin Landy
1941 25. Helen Sobel Smith
1941 26. Sherman Stearns
1941 27. Robert A. McPherran
1942 28. Jeff Glick
1942 29. Arthur Glatt
1942 30. Dr. Richard Ecker Jr.
1942 31. Albert Weiss
1942 32. Lee Hazen
1942 33. Peggy Solomon
1942 34. Alvin Roth
1943 35. Sidney Silodor
1943 36. Olive Peterson
1943 37. Margaret Wagar
1943 38. Peter A. Leventritt
1944 39. Edson T. Wood
1944 40. Ralph Kempner
1944 41. Arthur S. Goldsmith
1944 42. Simon Becker
1944 43. Stanley O. Fenkel
1944 44. George Rapee
1944 45. Ruth Sherman
1945 46. Robert Appleyard
1945 47. Mr. A. Lightman
1945 48. Samuel Stayman
1945 49. Edward N. Marcus
1945 50. Charles A. Hall
1946 51. Emily Folline
1946 52. Joseph E. Cain
1946 53. Harry Feinberg
1946 54. Ambrose Casner
1946 55. Samuel Katz
1946 56. Jack Ehrlenback
1946 57. J. Van Brooks
1946 58. Simon Rossant
1946 59. Edward G. Ellenbogen
1946 60. Sidney R. Fink
1946 61. Bertram Lebhar Jr.
1947 62. Meyer Schleifer
1947 63. Louis Newman
1947 64. Elinor Murdoch
1947 65. Paula Bacher
1947 66. Florence Stratford
1947 67. Jules Bank
1947 68. William McGhee
1947 69. Maynard Adams
1947 70. Edith Kemp
1947 71. David Carter
1947 72. Jack Cushing
1947 73. Dr. A. Steinberg
1947 74. Jane Jaeger
1947 75. Cecil Head
1947 76. S. Garton Churchill
1947 77. Edward S. Cohn
1947 78. John Carlin
1947 79. Lawrence Welch
1947 80. Frank Weisbach
1947 81. Charlton Wallace
1947 82. Dr. Louis Mark
1947 83. Edward Taylor
1947 84. Dan Westerfield
1947 85. Tobias Stone
1947 86. Mark Hodges
1947 87. Leo Roet
1947 88. Sol Mogal
1947 89. Herbert Gerst
1947 90. Lewis Mathe
1947 91. Ludwig Kabakjian
1947 92. Gratian Goldstein
1947 93. Allen P. Harvey
1947 94. Lewis Jaeger
1947 95. Mildred Cunningham
1947 96. Elmer J. Schwartz
1947 97. Linda Terry
1948 98. Maurice Levin
1948 99. Dave Warner
1948 100. Ernest Rovere
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What was the criteria to play in the von Zedwitz (LM) pairs at that time, as there certainly weren’t enough Life Masters around in the early days it seems to play a 4 let alone 6-session event?
I note no Canadians on this list, but Shorty Sheardown and Sam Gold, must have followed soon after. My father was approx. #350 in 1951.
Jordan:
I have no idea about the criteria, but the ACBL encyclopedia explains about the von Zedtwitz Gold Cup and talks about ‘master players’ who were used to fill the event until life masters became more plentiful.
By the way, I think Linda Terry [#97] was a Memphian, who won the Women’s BAM in 1941 and I found a Goren article about her from 1954. I met and played against her when we moved to Memphis in 1972 and she was a fine player. I’m fairly sure she’s passed on, but I’m sure some Memphians can confirm.
J Van Brooks #57 ran the first bridge club I played. It was in the YWCA on Woodward Ave in Highland Park {think middle of Detroit} and the lease required we all join the YWCA.
Made for an interesting discussion with a first sergeant on my background check form to get my commission after ROTC. I showed him my card. He said, “Only you.” I said, “My partner across the room has one, too.”
I was able to find info on two more people from the list:
William McGhee (1897-1966)
http://books.google.com/books?id=btQbAAAAIAAJ&q=%22mcghee+william+1897-1966%22&dq=%22mcghee+william+1897-1966%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=FzVIT6jCFe-N4gTujLXfDg&redir_esc=y
Linda Terry (1916-1995)
http://dlynx.rhodes.edu/jspui/bitstream/10267/7651/3/1995_fall_rhodes_magazine_150_dpi.pdf.txt
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9597218
However, I discovered I had wrong info for Edward G. Ellenbogen who earned his title in 1946. That brings the list to five people with unknown whereabouts.
#59 Edward G. Ellenbogen
#63 Louis Newman
#66 Miss Florence Stratford
#73 Dr. A. Steinberg
#86 Mark Hodges
@ Jordan Cohen
According to the June 4, 1930 New York Times, the requirements were:
First or second in a general tournament of the American Bridge League, the American Whist League, the Vanderbilt Cup or the Eastern tournament.
Then, according to the September 20, 1934 New York Times, the American Bridge League created a “Bridge Master” title. It was earned by winning at least three master points in any of a number of events recognized by the league. The point system of rating had been made retroactive to 1930, according to the following tentative schedule:
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
Masters’ individual and pair 30 12 6
Masters’ team 24 9 3
A.B.L. pair 18 5 2
A.B.L. team 15 3 –
A.B.L. mixed team 6 2 –
A.B.L. men’s pair 6 2 –
A.B.L. women’s pair 3 1 –
A.W.L. pair 15 3 1
A.W.L. team 12 2 –
Eastern open pair 15 3 1
Eastern open team 12 3 –
Vanderbilt Cup team 9 2 –
Western pair 12 3 –
Western team 12 2 –
A.B.L. President’s Cup pair 3 1 –
Deductions of three points each year were taken from each master’s score.
The league had 105 masters at the time, with David Burnstine (later Bruce) leading the list with 242 points. He was followed by Howard Schenken (201), P. Hal Sims (166), Waldemar von Zedtwitz (141), and Oswald Jacoby (129).
Miss Elinor Murdoch led the woman players with 59 points, followed by Josephine Culbertson with 36.
@ Bill Cubley
Interesting story. Do you know what was the first name of J. Van Brooks and the date of his passing?
According to Paul Linxwiler, Managing Editor of the Monthly ACBL Bulletin, all of the six in question are gone, making Stoney the last of the first 100 to join the big bridge game in the sky.
Dear NS,
His first name was Jacob and he was called Van by everyone. He died in 1971, possibly 1970. There was an obit the the Detroit News and it is still publishing.
They had a very small elavator. It held 3 people. So we usually stayed for the scores because we could not leave anyway. You had to sit at the table closest to the door to leave first. 😉
Re: J Van Brooks. I started playing duplicate in the Detroit area (mainly at Russell Roosen’s Metro Bridge Club @ 9 Mile & Coolidge) in late summer 1971 and I remember seeing Van Brooks either there or at a local tournament. Ancestry.com lists Jacob V. Brooks of Oakland County, Michigan passing away in 1980.