Dick
was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He
is married to his favourite bridge partner, Christie. Dick has a B.A. and M.A. from Syracuse University and Ph.D. in
Mathematics from the University of Washington (1958). He is a retired University of Alberta Mathematics professor. Dick lists his main hobby as bridge; outside
of bridge, his interest is in music. He
played saxophone in the U.S. army during its occupation of Japan after World
War II. Until recently, Dick played
oboe with various groups. Now, Dick
says he just listens at concerts and operas.
Dick got started in bridge in 1952 while a graduate
student in Chicago. “We played total
point team games in our dorm. My first
duplicate game was in Spokane in 1953, while on the road to Seattle for more
study.” Dick played bridge in Seattle
for 5 years, in the Riverside area of California for 4 years, and occasionally
played rubber bridge in London, England for a year. He has played most of his
bridge in Edmonton, however, where he became Edmonton’s 4th life master.
Dick is one of the true gentlemen in the
game of bridge. For years, he had a
good partnership with a volatile partner (Neil Sutherland). Once in a while, you could hear a loud
Scottish voice say, “But Richard!” as Dick was trying to rationalize a creative
bid. Dick would only respond with a
puff of his pipe and the noise would soon die down. If all bridge players had Dick’s demeanor and skill at the table,
what a pleasant hobby bridge would be!
Dick says he approaches bridge philosophically “…as a challenge,
but remembering it’s just a game”. His
pet peeve is “players who give unsolicited advice to their opponents.” Traditionally, husbands and wives do not
make good bridge partnerships; however, Dick and Christie are an exception. I
would hazard a guess, and Christie would agree with me, that Dick’s temperament
has a lot to do with that.
Dick has provided a couple of anecdotes
from his bridge experiences. “While at
a bus stop in Disney World, Florida, we met a former Edmonton bridge player and
signed him and his partner up for the Swiss teams the next day. We finished 3rd overall.“ Talk
about finding your partners at the bus stop!
“While playing in a regional with Carl Yaskovich in Pittsburgh
many, many years ago, we came up against the pair of Charles Goren and John
Gerber, who overbid a misfit and landed in a horrible contract. Carl started to point out to them where they
went wrong. Gerber was not amused and
said, “’Sonny, we've been at this game for a few years so don't need your
advice’.”
Dick remembers that his first regional
tournament was in Seattle in the 1950’s.
As for his favourite regional, “It was in Helena, Montana as that is
where I reunited with my former partner, Christie, who had been away to the
U.S. (We were married soon afterwards,
when both our divorces came through.)
At this regional, we beat out Barry Crane and Kerri Shuman to win an
open pairs.” [Beating Barry Crane in
matchpoints at a regional was an almost unheard of event in those days.]
Dick shows concern for the game. “We need to find a way to get more young
people playing,” he says. He offers
this advice for newcomers to the game: “Find three other people, preferably
some of whom have already played, read a basic bridge book, and play”. As for himself, Dick says he will be
attending fewer tournaments in future but hopefully enjoying them more.