Zach Garrison, Life Master

So, yesterday I visited five different Starbucks and one bookstore, and bought thirteen copies of the same newspaper-- the Monday edition of THE NEW YORK TIMES.

The reason? The story about my great-nephew, Zachery Garrison, becoming the youngest-ever Life Master among Bridge players has now spread beyond Bridge circles. Last Friday it appeared in the HOUSTON CHRONICLE (Spring, where they live, being a suburb to the north of Houston), in a nice piece which not only includes a picture of Zach but also quotes from his parents, Kristy and David. Here's the link:

http://www.chron.com/business/press-releases/article/9-Year-Old-Texas-Youth-Becomes-Bridge-s-3154405.php#src=fb

When she learned there was also to be a piece in THE NEW YORK TIMES, I got commissioned to go buy some copies -- "as many as you can find". And I even got a follow-up call on the big day, when I think my sister was horrified to find that it was 12.30 here and I hadn't even started on my paper run yet, Kristy having only been able to find a single copy in her neighborhood.

So, I put aside the book review I'm working on and, amid a number of other errands, visited five of the six local Starbucks I know about ('local' as in 'within a ten mile drive'). Three here, two there, four there: in the end it added up to thirteen in all. Since I'd aimed for ten to twelve, that seemed about right. I'm keeping one for myself,* sending one each to my mother and sister, and boxing up the other ten for Kristy to keep as souvenirs or distribute among the various Garrisons, Rateliffs, Hutchins, Sladaritz, et al.

As for those who failed to buy a paper copy, here's the relevant article, with a point-by-point analysis of a particular hand played, from the upper righthand quadrant of page C4. Enjoy!

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/crosswords/bridge/zach-garrison-9-is-a-bridge-player-to-watch.html?_r=2&scp=1&sq=Zach%20Garrison&st=cse

And, once again, congratulations, Zach.

--Uncle John

..............

*slowly reading through it, I've already learned of an Off-Broadway production in which a fictionalized C. S. Lewis is one of the two main characters, FREUD'S LAST SESSION -- presumably based on the book about Lewis & Freud from a few years back, which I never read because it looked like its subtitle shd have been "why Lewis was right and Freud was wrong about everything". From a little online digging, the play itself sounds good though.

The Youngest Life Master

So, yesterday my great-nephew* became the youngest-ever person to achieve the status of Bridge Life Master. Nine years, two months, and seven days: a new record.

Congratulations to Zach, and to his parents (who did a lot of driving him around and re-arranging their schedule to make this possible), and his sisters for their patience while all this was going on. Here's the announcement:

http://www.acbl.org/news_archive.php?id=718

I don't play Bridge myself, though I relatively recently discovered that I know the basics of the game from so many games of Rook in my youth --a favorite game of my grandmother Smith, specially designed, I now realize, so that people with religious objections to playing cards cd still enjoy a Bridge-like game. It is interesting to see another gamer pop up elsewhere along the family tree, even if with a v. different game than the rpgs I've devoted so many hours to.

--John R.

--still in Magnolia, but now with reliable wi-fi, as of about this time yesterday.

*yes, I am old as the hills. Why do you ask?