Story by Daniel Dworkin (BBO: taniela)
I had been in the first group to go to Fiji in the Peace Corps (67'-69'). After a marriage, divorce, teaching, and carpentry, I taught in a couple of P.C. training programs in AL and SC.
When I was 37, I moved to Virginia Beach and found a winter rental quite near the beach. I made friends with the elderly gentleman next door. By chance, a neighbor told me he was a Life Master. I had been reading Goren in the newspaper for a while and thought I knew quite a bit about the game.
My grandmother was a card player. She had started me playing little casino at 7 and big casino as I advanced. I liked cards. I approached my neighbor, Eddie Pierce, and asked him to teach me bridge. He asked what experience I had had, and I said only reading Goren in the newspaper. He gave me a copy of Goren's book, Point Count Bidding, told me to read and outline it, keep reading the Goren column, and come see him in a year. He was wise and was not going to waste his time on someone who wasn't serious.
After a year I went to see him. He asked me a bunch of questions to which I knew the answers. We started playing with neighborhood foursomes and then at local clubs and sectional tournaments. While teaching in Norfolk, VA, Eddie invited me to join his men's group, which provided me with several new mentors.
After I retired from teaching in 2001, I drove tractor trailer for eight years. I carried a list of clubs with me, which allowed me to play bridge all over the country while idle waiting for loads to transport.
I'm now 82, a gold life master, and have enjoyed my bridge playing to this day. Bridge has provided me with many friends, a great deal of satisfaction, playing at regionals in several states and games at local clubs in western NC, and lots of games online on BBO. I teach online; it has been very rewarding to see students gain in confidence and increase their enjoyment of the game as they progress. I've met some terrific folks face to face and a bunch more online. Bridge has been a joy in my life.
Great way to learn. Weren’t you lucky to have found such a wise mentor so early on?
Dear Judy, Thanks for your reply. I've been very lucky in my bridge. Our local director, the matriarch of bridge in this area (w.ern NC), took me on as her helper during the years she taught classes for beginners. I learned a great deal attending those classes.
Then Bev Nelson played with me on BBO one time. She told me that she would help me with my bridge game if I was interested. She was a Safire life master. Her mentorship made a tremendous difference in my game. Soon I was playing UDCA signals and getting expert partners.
Bridge has been a fascinating 45 year journey for me.
Nice story, and that looks like a pretty serious road bike to be in that rocky terrain!
Dear Ken,
The picture of me is in the midst of a rock slide on Rt. 176 east of Saluda, NC. When I got there I was close to the end of a 44 mi. loop from Columbus, NC, around the Greenville watershed to Saluda and back to home. Bikers had already encountered the landslide and made a path through it, bless their hearts. So I walked through and continued the 7 miles downhill to home.
Thanks everyone for your lovely comments! 💙 We love seeing how much these stories resonate with you. Every week we share a new story from our bridge community, it’s amazing to read all the different journeys that bring people to the game.
If you have your own bridge story to share, we’d love to hear it! Just use the form linked in the article above.
I love these stories. This is one of the many reasons I love bridge, you never know who is sitting across the table and where they have been. I need to study more !!!
Gotcha, me too! Live the game and lots to continue learning how to Focus and so important to know and do to get better playing experience ❤️
Dear Janet, Thanks for your reply. Yes, bridge is special in that we get to meet many characters. People's stories are as enjoyable as the bridge we play with them.
Great story. Thank you.
Yes; life without Bridge unthinkable. Now I’m retired; it’s so sociable.
Jay
Melbourne
Australia
Dear Jay, Thanks for your comment. I never got to Australia but I found that the wife of one of my best friends in Fiji had moved there after her husband, Mar Esiu, had died.
I was in the Peace Corps in Fiji from '67-'69. Bridge came later.
Have you read A Town Called Alice? I've read a lot of Nevill Shute books whose books often take place in Australia.
Good luck with your bridge. I find that the better I get, the more fun it is.
Yours,
Dan
I’m always amazed by all the different paths that lead people to duplicate bridge.
I learned Goren away back in the early 70's,and I still have the Goren Point Count Book.These days nobody in this part of the world plays Goren
I love reading these stories!
I am an intermittent level player from India. I play on BBOand taken part in some tournaments. I am interested in online classes to improve and learn more.
Can you suggest some classes.
it may be too advanced, but give a try Steve Conrad if you know how to get on Zoom. The
lessons are free from 10-11 AM EST 365 days a year. I think his login is ConradSR.Try it out. Ask for the meeting number and people will help you.
Hi Poonam, BBO doesn’t currently offer online classes, but you can still learn and improve your game right here on BBO. Try Bridge Master for guided practice with explanations after each hand, or play Just Declare games to sharpen your declarer play skills.
Bridge master is terrific for declarer play 😇
A lovely story and inspiration I thought I was taking too long to Master Bridge but this has given me hope..