SILODOR OPEN PAIRS and KAY PLATINUM PAIRS

It is heartwarming for me to see Sidney and Norman honored and recognized at the Spring Nationals.  Five years after my first exposure to the game, I was fortunate to have met Norman at a nearby  Pennsylvania Regional.  I don’t recall exactly where it was as the encounter was over fifty years ago.   He was playing locally with Bobby Jordan, a close friend, but was soon discovered by the late, great Sidney Silodor who invited him onto the “big team”  which included Crawford,  Becker, Rapee, et al.  The warm friendship and partnership lasted but four years as Sidney had a losing bout with cancer and passed away in 1963.  They were an awesome twosome as they not only shared a passion for the game – but mutual love and friendship.  In the interim Norman and I were engaged and I spent many a night at the Silodor home in the company of Sidney’s adorable and perky wife, Bessie, with whom I remained friendly long after his death.   It looked like a once in a lifetime bridge marriage.  However, as it turned out, Norman was really twice blessed.

After Sidney’s death, Norman felt lost.  Mourning Sidney’s passing was tormenting for him and finding a new partner was not uppermost in his mind.  As fate would have it, about a year later Edgar (with whom he had played prior to Sidney) and Norman were reunited and played together as one of the most successful and respected partnerships which graced the game from 1964 till Edgar’s death in 1997.  Those thirty-three years added to the earlier partnership with Edgar (teamed with Lenny Harmon, Ivar Stakgold and Dick Kahn for about eight years) marked Kaplan-Kay as one of the longest running celebrated twosomes in the annals of the ACBL.   Norman had a knack for attracting the best, producing not only great success but warmth, sincerity, love and mutual admiration.  They were both partnerships made in heaven!

Looking back at the St. Louis Nationals when I noted the prestigious events named for Sidney and Norman respectively, I was prompted to present this blog as they would have burst with pride to have been recognized in the same assemblage.