Worthy of mention, too obscure for own thread

pruitt2 · Post by **pruitt2** » Fri May 20, 2022 9:27 pm

Loved his books.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Sat May 21, 2022 12:51 am

More “Essays in the New Yorker” than books. But he clearly knew and loved baseball..

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Sat May 21, 2022 1:04 am

sancarlos wrote: ↑Sat May 21, 2022 12:51 am More “Essays in the New Yorker” than books. But he clearly knew and loved baseball..

Are there any current "love baseball" writers? I'm not in touch with sportswriting as 99% of you, but I fear the craft of writing about sports is going by the wayside. (excepting Bronto of course.)

GoodKarma · Post by **GoodKarma** » Sat May 21, 2022 2:56 pm

I think Joe Posnanski does good national work and C. Trent Rosecrans who does the Reds beat for The Athletic could follow that path.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed May 25, 2022 3:03 pm

Thomas Ulsrud of the famous Norwegian curling pants has passed away.

pruitt2 · Post by **pruitt2** » Wed May 25, 2022 4:39 pm

51?

Fuck

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu May 26, 2022 12:52 pm

Joe Pignatano, Bullpen coach for Mets who grew veggies out there.

Reaper · Post by **Reaper** » Thu May 26, 2022 5:52 pm

Tough day in music as well:

Depeche Mode keyboardist Andy Fletcher, 60.

Yes drummer Alan White, 72.

Post by **Shirley** » Mon May 30, 2022 9:22 am

I unfortunately just learned of this kid yesterday. He was the 2nd leading scorer for Wash U this year and first team all conference while battling terminal stomach cancer.

https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/ill ... bba3a.html

Just an incredible, and sad, story.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Mon May 30, 2022 3:52 pm

Ronnie Hawkins...and if you don't know who he is...you have not seen the last waltz.

pruitt2 · Post by **pruitt2** » Tue May 31, 2022 8:56 am

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 3:52 pm Ronnie Hawkins...and if you don't know who he is...you have not seen the last waltz.

A legend in Toronto. For decades he played every single club and bar in the city and appeared on every talk/variety show in Canadian history.

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Wed Jun 01, 2022 9:12 pm

Marion Barber III. 38 is way, way too young.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 5:30 pm

So, this guy is too obscure for anyone to care, but I do care. Donald Reese was my favorite client on my Meals on Wheels delivery route, even though he was over 100 years old. His body was in horrible shape, but his mind was quite lucid. He was a lonely old man, and I would let him tell me stories about his life and show me his photos and memorabilia. I can't say for sure that all the stories are all true, but I believe him and he certainly led a fascinating life.

He grew up in the Bay Area and earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford. He loved his alma mater and gave me his tickets to the Big Game against Cal last fall. (He was a longtime member of their booster club but he was in a wheelchair and couldn't use the free tickets they gave him.) He was a big-time hurdler for Stanford in the 1930s. He says he won the AAU national championship and was in line to be on the 1940 US Olympic team. He showed me pictures of him competing for Stanford. But, the Olympics were cancelled due to the war in Europe, so that didn't happen. He learned to speak Portuguese and Spanish at Stanford, and when the US entered WWII, he was enrolled in the OSS (forerunner to the CIA) due to his language skills, and served as a liaison with Tito's partisans in Italy and Croatia. (He said those guys were some "tough, brutal" fighters.) The 1944 Olympics were again cancelled but he was in Italy, anyway. He couldn't train for the 1948 Olympics but he said the gold medal went to a guy he used to beat before the war. He said he got worms in his intestinal tract during the war, and was too debilitated to even think about getting back into hurdles in any case. Like I said, he showed me a bunch of track and war medals and photos. Some of the war stuff was kind off weird - he had some Nazi stuff he said was stripped from dead bodies and kept for keepsakes.

His business life was a bit dry, but that didn't stop him from telling me all about it. He worked in Brazil and Mexico as an exec for General Mills and told me about how he learned all about amino acids and dealing with bad actors down south, etc.

So, sorry about the long boring story of an anonymous old guy. I just found out today (when I went to deliver him food) that he died sometime in the last week He didn't have any family except a nephew in Chicago that he rarely spoke to, and he died alone. So i thought somebody ought to remember him, and that somebody is me.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 6:31 pm

Nice tribute, SC. And good on you for not just delivering the meals, but giving a lonely old man someone to share his memories with.

Reaper · Post by **Reaper** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 6:54 pm

It was a nice read, SC, and I'm glad you did care enough post and share. Definitely "worthy of mention".

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 7:03 pm

Thanks for sharing sc.

rass · Post by **rass** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 8:44 pm

Nice job SC

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:01 pm

sancarlos wrote: ↑Tue Jun 07, 2022 5:30 pm So, this guy is too obscure for anyone to care, but I do care. Donald Reese was my favorite client on my Meals on Wheels delivery route, even though he was over 100 years old. His body was in horrible shape, but his mind was quite lucid. He was a lonely old man, and I would let him tell me stories about his life and show me his photos and memorabilia. I can't say for sure that all the stories are all true, but I believe him and he certainly led a fascinating life.

He grew up in the Bay Area and earned both bachelor's and master's degrees from Stanford. He loved his alma mater and gave me his tickets to the Big Game against Cal last fall. (He was a longtime member of their booster club but he was in a wheelchair and couldn't use the free tickets they gave him.) He was a big-time hurdler for Stanford in the 1930s. He says he won the AAU national championship and was in line to be on the 1940 US Olympic team. He showed me pictures of him competing for Stanford. But, the Olympics were cancelled due to the war in Europe, so that didn't happen. He learned to speak Portuguese and Spanish at Stanford, and when the US entered WWII, he was enrolled in the OSS (forerunner to the CIA) due to his language skills, and served as a liaison with Tito's partisans in Italy and Croatia. (He said those guys were some "tough, brutal" fighters.) The 1944 Olympics were again cancelled but he was in Italy, anyway. He couldn't train for the 1948 Olympics but he said the gold medal went to a guy he used to beat before the war. He said he got worms in his intestinal tract during the war, and was too debilitated to even think about getting back into hurdles in any case. Like I said, he showed me a bunch of track and war medals and photos. Some of the war stuff was kind off weird - he had some Nazi stuff he said was stripped from dead bodies and kept for keepsakes.

His business life was a bit dry, but that didn't stop him from telling me all about it. He worked in Brazil and Mexico as an exec for General Mills and told me about how he learned all about amino acids and dealing with bad actors down south, etc.

So, sorry about the long boring story of an anonymous old guy. I just found out today (when I went to deliver him food) that he died sometime in the last week He didn't have any family except a nephew in Chicago that he rarely spoke to, and he died alone. So i thought somebody ought to remember him, and that somebody is me.

SC, thank you for sharing your memories of this man, not only worthy of mention, but also visiting.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 10:24 pm

Thanks for sharing, SC.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Jun 07, 2022 11:01 pm

That was great, SC. Thanks for feeding and befriending him. I'm sure it meant a lot to him.

pruitt2 · Post by **pruitt2** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 5:18 am

Great story.

rass · Post by **rass** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 6:28 am

Jim Seals of Seals and Crofts

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:41 am

Reaper wrote: ↑Tue Jun 07, 2022 6:54 pm It was a nice read, SC, and I'm glad you did care enough post and share. Definitely "worthy of mention".

Seconded.

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:46 am

I never met Mr. Reese, but now I'm glad I learned about his story.

cerranoredux · Post by **cerranoredux** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:55 am

Good on ya, SC. And Mr. Reese.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 9:07 am

That's very nice, SC. Thank you for sharing and RIP Donald Reese.

GoodKarma · Post by **GoodKarma** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:10 am

That's great SC. The most important thing we can do in this world is make a difference in one person's life and I'll bet you did that for him.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 11:18 am

DSafetyGuy wrote: ↑Wed Jun 08, 2022 8:41 am
Reaper wrote: ↑Tue Jun 07, 2022 6:54 pm It was a nice read, SC, and I'm glad you did care enough post and share. Definitely "worthy of mention".
Seconded.

Thirded. Wish we had a thanks button.

DaveInSeattle · Post by **DaveInSeattle** » Wed Jun 08, 2022 1:03 pm

Great story, SC...

L-Jam3 · Post by **L-Jam3** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 1:46 pm

Noted character actor Philip Baker Hall, a frequent collaborator of PT Anderson. If you haven't seen Hard Eight, it's worth a watch:

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:18 pm

Lt. Bookman!

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:19 pm

RIP. I know he's done a lot more, but he's so good in that Seinfeld bit.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:25 pm

rass wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:19 pm RIP. I know he's done a lot more, but he's so good in that Seinfeld bit.

Yeah!

EnochRoot · Post by **EnochRoot** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:32 pm

The Sybian wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:18 pm Lt. Bookman!

He basically played the same character as he did with Lt. Bookman in "Say Anything" (Cusack, Skye) as the director of some fraud division of the IRS. Explaining to the daughter how her dad was getting away with stealing from the families of the elderly people in the retirement home he ran, albeit slightly less halting as Bookman.

Reaper · Post by **Reaper** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 4:39 pm

I went straight to Bookman as well. Top 5 Seinfeld scene.

We also missed last week:
Original Bon Jovi bassist Alec John Such, 70.

And Jim Seals of Seals & Croft.

rass · Post by **rass** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 4:46 pm

Reaper wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 4:39 pm
We also missed last week:
...Jim Seals of Seals & Croft.

The hell we did!

Reaper · Post by **Reaper** » Mon Jun 13, 2022 9:07 pm

rass wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 4:46 pm
Reaper wrote: ↑Mon Jun 13, 2022 4:39 pm
We also missed last week:
...Jim Seals of Seals & Croft.
The hell we did!

Dammit. Lost it in the Summer Breeze of the story SC posted.

Baloney · Post by **Baloney** » Wed Jun 15, 2022 10:53 am

Internet Explorer @ 27

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Wed Jun 15, 2022 11:40 am

Baloney wrote: ↑Wed Jun 15, 2022 10:53 am Internet Explorer @ 27

Hendrix
Joplin
Cobain
Internet Explorer