March 20th, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 9 Comments 
It is an awakening to reflect upon the changing residences and nationalities of top bridge contestants over the last half century who compete here in the States. When I first came upon the scene in the sixties, the major team events (Reisinger, Spingold and Vanderbilt) showcased Zone 2 primarily (United States, Canada, Bermuda and Mexico). Of course, that was before the days of professionalism and the irresistible lure of big bucks as it is ever-present today. It is comparable to the old game we played as children — but today it would be referred to as Musical Bridge Chairs (though the burden of travel rewarded in most cases by big bucks relegates it to a walk in the park).
I was overwhelmed as I surveyed today’s rosters of the Final Four (semi-finals) in the still very much prestigious Vanderbilt Cup:
Zimmermann (originally the 16th seed) versus Strul (originally the 12th seed):
ZIMMERMANN is from Switzerland, Multon and the father and son Bessis partnership are from France and the great Helgemo/Helness twosome originate from Norway.
STRUL (originally from South Africa but now a resident of FL, alleged to be a super-playing sponsor) pairs up with Hall of Famer Michael Becker and is quite mightily backed up by Fantoni and Nunes from Italy (who have been in contention with many U. S. players here over the years) and Eric Saelensminde and Boye Brogeland, both from Norway.
Thus this match features two America Citizens and ten Foreign Players. Just an interesting observation!
In the other match, Fleisher (originally the 11th seed) versus DeKnijff (originally the 15th seed):
FLEISHER, believe it or not, is the traditional All-American sextet — comprised of Marty Fleisher (NY) playing with Mike Kamil (NJ); the great long-time partnership of Californians Chip Martel and Lew Stansby; and bringing up the rear (but not in the usual sense of the word) — another celebrated pair (Bobby Levin, now listed as living in PA, and Stevie Weinstein, of NJ).
DeKNIJFF(**), apparently a transplant to my wonderful new hometown of Las Vegas, NV, is teamed up with native Swedish experts Frederick Wrang, Peter Fredin and Bjorn Fallenius (who has been enjoying life as a popular New Yorker for a long time after departing his native Sweden) — rounding out the sixsome with Fredrik Nystrom and Peter Bertheau.
(**)As a point of interest, since I had never heard of the gentleman before, I googled him and learned there is someone bearing the same name Martin De Knijff who has done exceedingly well on the poker trail — and with a name like that, it is hard to envision another with such a talent for the pasteboards Besides, with all the casinos and poker tournaments right here in Vegas, the shoe begins to fit!
Thus — it is fascinating to me that the Vanderbilt would draw so many of our foreign neighbors, as it appears out of the TWENTY-FOUR players battling for the title at this point, only SEVEN (Mike Becker and the six-man Fleisher crew) are native born Americans. The challenge of fame, success and ego and the rewards of professionalism go a long, long way. What a fabulous game!
March 17th, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 22 Comments
Harboring the bruises, scars and lifetime resentment as a result of my infamous (eventually vacated and rectified) appeal and AWMW from a few years ago (due to a cast of inept directors, the disgusting mishandling by my Appeals Committee and a deliberate attempt to hide the facts and findings, via exclusion, from the printed Appeals Book by the head Tournament Director), I always survey with intrigue the latest NABC shenanigans in that area.
Of late, it seems to have become a pattern that when the King Kongs of the U. S. bridge world appear before a committee of their underlings, whether as a pair or partnered with one of their sponsors, they always sickeningly seem to come out smelling like rose — as the Committee Members don’t want to appear stupid to disagree with The Supreme/s (and also hurt their chances of being recommended as a professional should the occasion ever arise). Thus, they never seem to receive the short end of the stick. If you want to see another one of these miscarriages of justice in action, check out Page 6 of the Tuesday, March 16th Reno Daily Bulletin Appeals Cases (Case #1) and see how Marshall Miles, a quite ethical old timer, got screwed out of a terrifically envisioned slam — in deference to one of the celebrated appellants! Some things never seem to change.
March 9th, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 6 Comments
I am embarrassed to admit I don’t read each month’s Bulletin from cover to cover as I once did. Lifestyles, priorities, family, travel, blogging and cyberspace in general are all contributing excuses! Major changes take place in our lives causing us to deviate from former routines and I was fascinated when I realized how different, upscale and so much improved the current issue is from the smaller copies which I savored and faithfully collected and filed away month after month when I first became a member in the late fifties. In recent years, I gradually did more scanning than reading but for some reason I devoted much more time than usual these last few days and it was well worth the effort!
Longtime Editor Brent Manley and his crew do a spectacular job in covering so many bases and there is a wealth of educational information I never realized was available. It is likened to a monthly encyclopedia! I especially enjoyed Letters to the Editor, specifically two which appeared on page 7.
In “Perspective,” the Wolves’ new friend from right here in Las Vegas, Bob LaFleur, elegantly captures the difference between making Life Master back in the Sixties, Fifties and even Forties — pointing out the farther back you travel — the harder it was. Today, with the glut of masterpoints available, it is the literal “piece of cake.” His last paragraph was really a mouthful:
“Being a Life Master does not mean what it once did, but being a millionaire doesn’t mean what it used to mean either. Seeing all those bumper stickers proclaiming the driver’s child to be an honor student makes me think that the standards for honor students are lower too. I doubt anyone who plays our game believes being a Life Master means you are an expert. I have had more than my fair share of success at the bridge table, but I know that there is a vast gulf between my skills and those of the real experts of our game.” A very realistic appraisal, in my opinion. Well said!
Following Bob’s views was a Letter (“Old v. New”) from Michael Eyer, of Lake Oswego, OR. After reading his short introductory bio, it is obvious he is no stranger to the game and has served in many worthwhile capacities for his unit and district. I share many of his views about the thrill of mailing in fractionals and playing in non-flighted events. Seems like an eternity ago — and I suppose it was. Michael speaks of re-evaluation of earning points when times were harder, the creation of different Life Master Rankings for differentiation purposes and the plethora of “triple charity points for every game (although he points out that does not exist in the Portland area). He closes his perspective with the following:
“It’s a wonderful game, but most ACBL rankings are meaningless unless there are asterisks for (1) when they started playing, (2) percentage of masterpoints achieved with professional help and (3) points won online and/or in limited fields.”
I can’t resist closing with Marty Bergen’s oft-quoted remark: ‘Points, Schmoints!’
March 8th, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 14 Comments
I surmised by the comments that many astute observers realized there was more to the story than the auction given — when the 4S bid rolled back to you (the 4H bidder). Some of you inferred you might not have bid 4H originally (which surely has merit), but that was a ‘given’ — the way it was presented to the audience. Here is what actually happened. Opener (holding 96 AKQ92 KQ1092 5) was obviously taken back by her RHO’S 4S call and considered bidding on by her noticeable break in tempo (which is understandable with her hand) but decided to pass as did the 4S bidder.
Now the ethical dilemma arises — would you consider 5H (especially after partner’s hitch)????? OF COURSE NOT! UNTHINKABLE! NO ETHICAL PLAYER WOULD (and not one of you who commented did so — even WITHOUT KNOWING OF THE BIT — so I assume it is pretty automatic)!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I might add an aside from a top player who wrote to me privately — and I quote, “My call is 1,000% PASS.”). However, in all fairness I want to add both players are lovely gals and were relatively inexperienced (though not new to the game) and neither the huddler nor the 5H bidder knew they had done anything wrong. Many club players think that is part of the game — perhaps like poker. That is another issue which I will tend to later.
MY QUESTION: WHEN ARE NEW, OLD, EXPERIENCED OR INEXPERIENCED PLAYERS GOING TO BECOME EDUCATED TO THE ETHICAL PRACTICES OF THE GAME? (THAT MEANS BIDDING BASED ON THE THIRTEEN CARDS FACING YOU — NOT BREAKS IN TEMPO)!
THE ANSWER: WHEN THE OWNERS OR THE CLUB DIRECTORS RECOGNIZE THE FACT NONE OF THE ABOVE SHOULD HAVE ANY BEARING ON THE AUCTION BASED ON UNAUTHORIZED INFORMATION AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Unless there are extenuating circumstances (perhaps a void in opponent’s suit or some wild distribution like 6/5/) — you might justify bidding again. However, one of the golden rules of bridge is an admonition about BIDDING THE SAME VALUES TWICE. The result is really a secondary issue. My prime concern is to educate the decision-makers (owners/directors/managers — whomever calls the shots) about the proprieties of the game. It is the responsibility of the ACBL to make a concerted effort to go all out to train and re-train their directing staff. In fifty years on the scene (and having witnessed key matches with both Norman and Bobby both nationally and internationally), I have been impressed with many at the ultimate level. However, donning a Regional or Sectional Director’s Cap (let alone at the club level) does not, in itself, mean you have enough bridge knowledge or savvy to understand what is involved. Again, there are exceptions. EDUCATION IN DIRECTING IS A ‘MUST’ if we expect to ascend to a level playing field.
As you may have suspected, I was the disgruntled 4S bidder and was appalled by the 5H call. I did not want to intimidate the nice lady on my right by calling the director immediately, so I commented politely, “We are all aware your partner had a problem before she passed 4S so I assume you are bidding based on your own hand.” Embarrassedly (admitting she was aware of the situation because it took her about 30 seconds to succumb to her 5H call), she said, “I’ll take it back then. It’s O.K. Would you like me to?” I countered, ” No, let’s play the hand and then we’ll decide what to do.” 5H ended the auction. I didn’t have to wait that long. Soon as the dummy was tabled (A4 J10873 85 J962), I called for the director who told us to play and score the hand. Bobby and I assumed he was coming back to adjust the board. The result was immaterial. My problem: Why should we have not been allowed to play 4S? THAT IS THE ONLY ISSUE .. rolling it back to where it legally should have been played — regardless of the result. Incidentally, the director inferred he would give it some thought that night (a lot of good that was going to do — after the scores were entered and posted) and never said another word but allowed the score to stand. I went ballistic and left the club.
I could have beaten 5H (though we could not make 4S), but I believe the important issue is the director’s LACK OF KNOWLEDGE OR WORSE YET — JUDGMENT. He allowed the 5H bid to stay and a week later when I saw him at the sectional and rehashed the hand, he added insult to injury when he told me he had checked with some of the ‘other club directors’ AND SOME OF THE SECTIONAL ONES TOO — and they all tended to agree. (Eons ago when I was a kid they used to say, “That and a dime will get you a cup of coffee” — but of course Starbucks, of late, has set different monetary standards! If the original saying is foreign to some of you younger readers — the inference is — “So what? I’m not impressed.” And, believe me, I am not!!
It is time the ACBL stepped in, giving more guidance and taking the responsibility for these situations more seriously or the game will continue to go to hell in a hand basket!!!
March 8th, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 13 Comments
I would like to share with you an email Bobby received and replied to today from a very frustrated bridge player (and I sympathize with his plight). Before you read the correspondence, here is a bit of background I later learned upon my personal follow up: The writer is a ‘relative newcomer to bridge tournaments,’ although he learned to play in grad school at the University of Michigan forty years ago — just to accommodate three frustrated housing students who wanted to be assured of a fourth. He stopped playing until the Nineties when he entered his first duplicate at the local Senior Center one Tuesday evening. In 1998, he got transferred to the Bay Area but didn’t resume playing club bridge again until 2004 and entered his first “tournament” in 2006. I think we can all agree,
although attaining LM status last year, he is a relatively inexperienced player.
Following is his factual request for Bobby’s opinion of the handling of the situation. Perhaps you may think Bobby’s approach of not-mincing words rubbed off on me, but I can assure you it was always my way of thinking. Perhaps, it has to do with my hometown of Philadelphia and the no-nonsense approach both the knowledgeable club and tournament directors assumed when they were called to a table. It is hard to get accustomed to what I see as in many cases (with a few exceptions) of “fudging a decision” when they don’t know for sure — even after reading the sacred laws of the ACBL and having to consult with others directors — who may know as little or even less! If rules are to be bent (which quite often are justified), it should be to establish justice. EQUITY SHOULD ALWAYS BE THE BOTTOM LINE — without exception!
Read the rest of this entry »
March 7th, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 12 Comments
Let me offer to all knowledgeable players something for their consideration. This is not a trick hand.
Here are the conditions.
Both vulnerable; Dealer is South; the Auction proceeds:
South West North East
P 1H 1S 4H
4S P P ?
Here is East’s hand: A4 J10873 85 J962
What is your call? PART II tomorrow.
March 3rd, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 11 Comments
The bridge world is comprised of all sizes, shapes, sexes, personalities, nationalities and talents. Bobby and I (at the LV Sectional this week) came across one of the most obnoxious opponents I ‘ve had the displeasure of playing against in 55 years and I’ve fallen victim to quite a few. This clown I would call a pure, genuine, unadulterated creep. You know me, I don’t mince words!!!!! Although Bobby has seen so many of them over his sixty years in competition, shrugs them off, laughs and doesn’t pay them much mind. Bobby’s boiling point is reached with any kind of cheating, stealthy attempts at helping one’s partner and taking obvious advantage of breaks in tempo. I, on the other hand, (besides the aforementioned) find haughtiness despicable which equates to fixing the opponents and giving each other a congratulatory ‘high five’. I am much more conscious of trying to be courteous but I go off the deep end when someone deliberately gloats (after taking a ridiculous, successful idiotic approach which by some anti-percentage fluke works) — as the opponent (poor soul — forgive him as he knows not what he did — and never will) doesn’t know any better. Let me elaborate a bit further. As you are quite aware, my blogs zero in on history, memory lane or causes which I feel are worth fighting for and making the public aware of their danger to the dignity of the game. Professing to be an expert (or self-styled one) is not my bag. By now you are prepared for my off-the-wall experience of yesterday in a Glitter Gulch Pair Game.
This tremendously large aberration of a creature seats himself on my right and his humongous circular name button (which he apparently proudly wore as his calling card) seemed to go along with his stature and almost knocked my eyeballs out. O. K. — to each his own — if for some stupid reason he wanted to flaunt his presence and make himself known. That’s his egotistical prerogative — a welcome mat of sociability. Many players wear cute little name tags — even including their home town. I rather enjoy seeing them. It makes for a friendly homey atmosphere.
And now for the hands — which made me see stars.
Holding: K93 Q10 AK4 Q9643
Non vulnerable, the bozo, sitting East, opened 1C with the above hand. Partner (in the West chair) responded 1S (our style leans to a rebid of 2S — but that is immaterial and not crucial) and opener responded 1NT. Partner jumped to 3H and rather than loving his hand more than before (by jumping to 4S or choosing either the ubiquitous call of 4D with the intention of converting to 4S) or even a a pussy-footing underbid of 3S (last choice), he denied a secondary fit and chose 3NT. Dummy produced: AJ1087 AK642 J7 2 (I guess it never occurred to his partner to show her 5/5 by rebidding 4H — but, alas, here they were in 3NT. If I had x-ray eyes or the advantage of a wired partnership, it would have had the good sense to lead a club and not led the diamond 10, giving declare an extra trick at the get-go when his DJ held.
Here were our hands: (North) Q5 J987 862 AJ107 opposite mine (South) 642 53 Q10953 K85
The brain surgeon who was declarer, won the diamond jack; played HQ and the H10 to the HA and HK, getting the bad news, then cashing the top diamonds, throwing a heart and a club, played SK and a spade to the SA, dropping the DOUBLETON SQ. HAD THAT NOT BEEN BAD ENOUGH (holding only eight of them), BUT THEN HE TURNED TO BOBBY and beamed, stating ‘G-O-O-D M-A-N!” I was so infuriated by everything about his appearance, demeanor and mouth, I wanted to get the metal board and toss it at him, but I controlled myself. In retrospect, I am not sure whether banishment would not have been worth it had I taken perfect aim. (Result: -660 where as the field made ether +650 or +680).
So much attention is focused on table protocol: not touching anyone else’s cards without asking permission first; bidding in tempo; no private understandings; alerting when imperative; the absence of alerts; warnings about failure to alert; cautions about rudely telling the opponents how they could have made the hand or a lead that could have beaten their contract; conflicts of interest, personal agendas and the ineptness and partiality of some people serving on Appeals Committees, the politics prevalent in so many factions of the ACBL, etc. — it’s time we dedicate more time to teaching some members to act civilized at the table. So here’s another NO-NO Penalize the opponents for making ugly and gratuitous remarks. That’s as bad as it gets!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No wonder a lot of first-timers or newcomers drop out of duplicates. People do not like being abused, insulted or having their nose rubbed in it and it is totally inexcusable behavior.
In our case, it was just a case of a worse-than-hopeless bridge player with no clue of the game, an irritating manner — and the intentional delight derived from adding insult to injury or pouring salt on the wound. The only remark I made was, “You’d be a good candidate for Miss Manners.” He departed the table with a grin — and obviously, NO REMORSE! Maybe I am getting too old for this game. I expect more!!!!!
March 2nd, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 5 Comments
Every good thing must come to an end — so they say. Bobby and I are here at the Sectional in Las Vegas at the Riviera. I was not around in the early days (although I spent part of my honeymoon at the Flamingo in ’63). I believe before the Riviera, the tournaments (Sectionals) were held from about 1984 to the very late nineties at The Union Plaza and were run primarily by Martha Beecher and Grace Matthews. They were extended from four days to seven because of their enormous buildup in popularity. In fact, I understand their success rate improved for the Spring Sectional (300%), Summer (400% to 1,000 tables) and Fall (200%) over that period and each were awarded a plaque for such a tremendous feat. Apparently, then the tournaments were moved to the present site.
Sadly, though the Riviera boasts a tremendous history in the entertainment field (and attractive bridge tournaments), the people presently in charge have announced they are moving on to Bally’s — not too far away, initiating their new home with the Regional in June — a couple weeks before the Bergen-Cohen Reunion Seminar at The Wynn. Las Vegas is a popular site — even with the present economy.
Since Bobby and I live in a delightful suburb called Summerlin (far from the maddening traffic of the Strip), our only missions here are to pick up out of town guests staying ‘downtown’ or to attend the local tournaments where we are as I write. The attendance was good yesterday as not only are the bridge devotees in this area very upbeat and bridge-crazy (not all bad) — but many motor from local states (or even fly in) for the fun of the bridge and the gambling. So Friday night we will bid The Riviera a fond farewell and look forward to our debut at Bally’s, which I hear is adjacent (and connected) to ‘Paris,’ a rather ‘new’ hotel/casino in comparison to the legends of the fifties when this city was more like a ghost town.
February 26th, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 5 Comments
David Berkowitz, the popular, good-humored New Yorker who recently migrated to Florida, was the sole electee to the 2010 Primary Hall of Fame. Though the election was officially closed on February 15, 2010 (for some reason agreed to by those in charge, they delayed the ballot opening for ten days — until today, February 25th), announcing they were waiting for straggling ballots to arrive. Whether it affected the final tally remains a mystery and a rather strange position to take since a deadline is a deadline. But, go fight City Hall! I do think the whole process has to be re-thought and re-vamped — but that is the responsibility of the ACBL.
In any event, knowing Dave (and his much better half, Lisa) for more than twenty years, I am proud that his voluminous achievements were recognized. On the other hand, I am surprised that another of the remaining nine candidates did not receive the required minimum but I did feel he was clearly the favorite — on the basis of a long-standing list of victories in a variety of categories. I am sure it is a popular triumph and David’s induction will take place at the Hall of Fame Banquet to be held at the New Orleans NABC this summer with his long-time favorite partner (now retired from tournament action) — Larry Cohen, doing the honors.
Larry departed from the tournament scene recently, but accompanied by his lovely wife, Maria, runs exciting cruises, continues with his ever-popular Newsletter and private classes. In fact, we locals will be lucky to have The Las Vegas 5-star resort, The Wynn, host a Marty Bergen-Larry Cohen Bridge Reunion Seminar three days from June 22-24, 2010 (and enjoy all that Sin City has to offer in addition to the duplicates, lessons, one-on-ones, etc). I don’t have any of the details available, but if you are interested, there may still be openings and I am sure you can find it somewhere on the internet.
It is always nice to see good things happen to good people!
February 21st, 2010 ~ Judy Kay-Wolff ~ 7 Comments
On February 9th, I posted a blog called “The Continuing Hall of Fame Saga” and there were several entertaining comments about sponsorship. After the humorous story about Barry’s Rules which was related by Martha Beecher on my blog the following day, she suggested I contact Dennis Sorenson who played with, and knew, the Master Point Icon quite well. Dennis, himself, has quite a sterling record — both as an administrator and accomplished bridge player, but has forsaken his “former life” and is now married, the proud father of two children and is enjoying life in Udon Thani, Thailand — a far cry from the bridge circus that exists here in the States today.
In response to my email request to Dennis, he agreed to supply me with some anecdotes about Barry. So here goes:
“In 1984 I recall helping Barry in what would prove to be his unsuccessful bid in stopping Mel Skolnik from winning the then-McKenney. He needed assistance late in the fall in Spokane and I brought my regular partner Stan Sather to offer assistance. Barry was quite loyal and indicated he would gladly return the favor by visiting our Portland regional in February, 1985.
Somewhere along the way it worked out for me to take a sabbatical from teaching to “study computers.” I arranged to take courses on select weekends during the year but in reality I would be playing bridge with Barry. [Love it, Dennis. jkw].
While I thought I had some grip on the imps theory, what better way to learn matchpoints but from the best player our game has known. The plan was to complete my school term and hustle down to meet Barry in Sacramento during the middle of the tournament. He would bring Kerri Shuman up from LA and play with her until I arrived.
We (as Grant profoundly mentioned in Martha’s commentary) would be playing “Crane”. Barry would be off in his own world. I had no notes but some gist of the structure of Barry’s methods though his controversial 2C response to a major was seemingly under fire. I also recall that Barry played four card majors with some definition. While playing with Mike Passell much later, we did commiserate that he could open on QXXX while he said, “Dennis you will need QTXX to open with a four card major.” We got a nice laugh from that recall.
I recall in Spokane, Barry and I had a session where we had played together and somehow I managed to get him into this horrific Moysian slam. He took the only line to make and was beaming when I returned from a bathroom break. I could only imagine his demeanor if we had gone set. lol.
Obviously, I was looking forward to playing with Barry in the summer of 1985 and was somewhat apprehensive not having any system notes. I did feel my defense would be more than adequate as that was certainly, in my mind, one of my strengths. I was hoping to learn more about bidding as well as the psychology of the game. Early on in one of the first sessions we played in Sacramento we had a defensive hand at imps. Barry had embarked on a line of defense which I changed during the play to ensure a one trick set. I had not seen that Barry’s line of defense would obtain a two trick set. At the time he noted, “this had better work…” or something to that effect. The results from Sacramento were somewhat lackluster but we were set to play in the upcoming Pasadena Regional for something like ten days.
Our first event included a KO with Barry, ????, John Sutherlin, Billy Miller, and myself. At the time, we were playing the KO in the mornings. During the day, Barry and I enrolled in a small field of the Men’s. After the first session, we were next to last. I recall telling Barry that this performance must be painful for him and I would understand if he would rather not remain committed for the rest of the tournament. That night Barry and I produced a masterpiece of 73 per cent and rallied to third. We were getting in sync! One defense that I happened to be proud of actually happened against Blair Fedder and his partner. (Sorry, my good friend Blair)!
I’m not completely certain of the timing, but I mentioned my friend Hermine Baron had asked if I could play with her in an upcoming Open Pairs. Ouch! I was not aware of any friction they had in their own relationship but it gave Barry an opportunity to play with Billy Miller in the same Open Pairs. Before the event, the elements above became known to me and when we actually met Barry and Billy during the event, we were playing for more than matchpoints. I am not sure who won the head to head but after the event was over, I rushed over to see how Hermine and I had fared. We had a lackluster 366 for a 10th or 11th overall finish. Of course, I then looked down at the East-West scores to see how Barry and Billy fared. Ironically, they had a 366 as well so no egos were bruised.
After the session Barry gave us (our gang of four or five) a ride to a popular night restaurant on Arroyo de Seco a few blocks away. We were excited as the finals of our KO event was the following morning (????). It may have been a day earlier as we were to play Larry Weiss’s Team in the Finals. (For those of you newcomers, Larry was the photographer for the LA District).
Following news of Barry’s death, Larry did not want to play Barry’s team in the Finals with a substitute player. It may have taken a day to sort that out. Ultimately, we were allowed to use Kerri Shuman as a substitute and I had the privilege of playing with Kerri. It seemed we were five-handed with John Sutherlin but he had to return to Texas to play in their July 4th tournament. The events remain murky because I do recall being paged from play and being told of Barry’s death. I was visibly shaken and recall Kerri noting something was very wrong as I returned to the playing area.
As an aside, the murder investigation was quite exhaustive. Those of us who had ridden in Barry’s car provided extensive forensic evidence which included hair, fingerprints, and blood work. As I was touring the country playing bridge and “taking those computer classes,” I was not able to provide my evidence until the following Pasadena tournament in December. I was told close to 100 people were part of the evidence sample.
As usual, I have few hands which I recall. My memory seems suited to storing only the disasters which we profit from.”
Thanks, Dennis. Stories like these are heirlooms. It is hard to believe that Barry Crane is gone so long. Keep ’em coming. Incidentally, when I received his original draft for the blog site, I asked him to approve the final copy. I got the nod earlier this morning, but was intrigued by his other remarks and closing commentary — especially:
“The blending of diversity and cultures in bridge gives us hope as a world, but the more I see in our own politics in Washington makes me wonder about a future in which evolution gives the Earth more proud moments like the French Revolution, the abolition of slavery and the advancement of minority benefits (most notably women, labor and gays).”
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