A Letter From An Old Friend
February 12, 2010
Dear No. 10:
Your touching communiqué to your friends and teammates is heartwarming. I like it that sentimentality has smitten you as you turn 70. You have a lot of close friends who care about you because you care about them. Gratefully, I feel that I am in that group.
None of us is without flaws or shortcomings, failures or setbacks, but each of us should have some redeeming feature in our lives. With you, it is your consummate underscoring of an upbeat tempo. Nobody I know has ever accentuated the positive more than you. You have been on “uppers” all your life. What a joy to see that in a friend and know it is natural. That is why I am always trying to find my way to Atlanta to see you. You’re busy, but you always make time for your friends. For that, I am truly grateful.
You are a gifted conversationalist. I’ve known nobody with a greater gift of conversation than you – unless it is Lee Trevino. Whenever I get to see him when I am in Dallas, I come away with the greatest feelings. Like you, when he talks – about anything – he has something to say. With a lot of people, conversation is meaningless. No substance. Like that good looking girl Jerry Burns talked about.
Another very important asset in your life is your loyalty to your friends. You also inspire loyalty from your friends which is why I drove my Volkswagen, in 1965, to Baltimore (to see Raymond Berry and then took the train to NY to the World’s Fair); then reclaimed the VW and drove across to Chicago and up to Bemidji to see you at the Viking training camp. You got me a room in the dorm at the college, you arranged for me to eat at the training table, and if we went out, you got the check. I wasn’t freeloading, but if you hadn’t done that, the trip would have had to have been aborted. (If the state trooper in Indiana had given me a ticket for speeding instead of a warning, that would have also cause me to abort.) While I was moving around the country, Myrna was studying at Northwestern for a few weeks. Leaving Minnesota, I picked her up in Evanston. We drove to St. Louis to see Charley Trippi who was coaching with the Cardinals at that time. Other than gas, and you know how many miles you can travel with a full tank in a VW, I bet we didn’t spend $250. We were rich from the experience, however.
When we got home, we were so grateful for our summer sojourn, all inspired by loyalty to a friend. This is why I have always had the greatest appreciation for our friendship.
You’re the greatest!
Sincerely,
Loran Smith
(University of Georgia)
