Murdock Muse July-August 2003 - Part 3


R.I.P., RICHARD LYON
Nancy Murdock

Our childhood friend Richard Lyon, a faithful reader of the Murdock Muse, died June 27 at his camp in Mount Vernon, Maine. He was 74. We missed his Memorial Service at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Gardner by one day. Jane McCauley reported that it was very well attended.

Dick was Bob's college roommate in their freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, then left WPI and went on to graduate from Colby College. He taught mathematics and other subjects at several area high schools, and was a mainstay in our home town of Hubbardston, where he and his wife Marion lived in the center of town. In 2002 the Golden Agers of Hubbardston honored him as "Man of the Year."

He was also a key figure in starting Bob and me dating. When Bob asked me to go to the movies with him the first time, I said I would have to ask my parents first. But he said he would need to know right away, because if I said yes, he had to tell Dick (who was about ready to drive away from choir rehearsal), so Dick could also invite Bob's sister Lennie. Since Bob didn't yet have a driver's license, he couldn't take me without a driver. I said yes and hoped my parents would also agree, and Bob ran back to Dick to set it up. Who knows if we would ever have gotten together if it hadn't been for Richard Lyon?


NOTES FROM OUR CA TRIP
Bob Murdock

People came from all around for Christel Michelle's graduation. Nancy and I traveled 3,000 miles from Baltimore, but we didn't win the distance prize. That went to Carl Jalkamen, Carol's friend, who came all the way from Denmark!

In March, Marjorie Hanson, Christel's grandma, traveled with son Rob to Budapest, Hungary to be a judge in a 2,000-dog show. "We didn't even know there was a war in Iraq," she said. "We didn't speak or read any Hungarian!"

Rob told me that in the Afghan competition, the prize for the winning dog was a $15,000 horse!

Christel thanked all those who sent her cards and messages, and said "Is anyone surprised that Meredith sent me a cat greeting?" Christel revealed that she had won an extra honor at Chapman: PR student of the year. Applause! Applause!

We weren't there to see Natalie's graduation, but we celebrated by taking the family and Meredith to Natt's choice of restaurants. She has good judgment - the Olive Garden is one of our favorites too.

Natt plays softball and Tim plays baseball in the La Mirada Park leagues. Tim's season hadn't started yet, but we saw Natt's team win 8 to 3. She's an outfielder, and she got on base twice and scored a run. Tim's a catcher, but we watched him develop his pitching techniques in his back yard.

In Anaheim, I went with Ian and Tim to an Angels game, where they were playing the Baltimore Orioles. I tried not to be too obviously exuberant when rookie Brian Roberts won the game for Baltimore with a grand slam home run.

Outside the park, near the entrance gates, a humongous red Angels baseball cap was on display, an emblem of the 2002 World Series champions. A nearby plaque stated that it was a size 615 ½ cap.

In Redwood City, Valerie has a 5 year old cat named Samurai. "When young, he attacked everybody," said Val. We didn't see Samurai attack anybody, but we saw him hop around the room like a rabbit.

Val drives a 1985 Honda Accord with a stick shift. It shows 215,000 miles. Can anyone top that? With 175, 000 on our 1990 Toyota, we don't come close.

Jerod proudly showed us his sleek black Chevrolet truck, a 1996 Silverado C-1500. It has a V-8 engine, 5.7 liters. "It uses a lot of gas," he said.

Jerod and Tim are baseball nuts like me, and they both have impressive fantasy games. Tim's team can have players from bygone eras, like Willie Mays or Babe Ruth. Tim does a lot of trading to get the best lineup. Jerod's game shows a virtual video of the action, with real announcers. Two of his best players are A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) and J-Rod (Jerod).


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB
Gene Murdock

Everybody should have a big brother. This is impossible, of course, because the first-born boy cannot have a big brother, otherwise he could not be the "first born" and could not inherit the crown and become king.

But I was lucky to have a big brother in the name of Robert Douglas Murdock, the co-editor of the Murdock Muse. The subject arises because Big Brother Bob will celebrate his (censored) birthday on Tuesday, June 3, and this article of mine is a birthday tribute to him.

When I think of Bob, I think of someone with a baseball mitt on, because as far back as I can remember he was an avid baseball fan, a trait that he passed on to me. There wasn't much room for organized baseball back on Woodland Avenue in Gardner, Mass. although there was a diamond hacked out of the stony sloping field a little way from the house, but for me, it was mostly playing catch in the back yard. But when we moved to the rural settings of Hubbardston we had a large field right next to the house where Dad built us a backstop and laid out the bases. In this paradise Bob coached me on the rules and techniques of the game, and we spent many an hour out there. In that rural setting it was rare to field a nine-kid team, so we just rotated through the positions.

Bob was six years older than me, but I always felt treated as an equal. He was always learning something new, whether it was from school, the library or from the Johnson Smith Catalog, and I strived to emulate him in this respect and do as well as he did in all things.

Just a few years after moving into the fascinating big house in Hubbardston he and I shared a bedroom, and my education proceeded by leaps and bounds. A soon-to-be-released article titled "On a score of 1 to 10" will demonstrate some of the valuable philosophy he passed on to me.

This was the early 1940's and Bob went off to war in the U.S. Navy. When he returned he regaled me with tales of his experiences in the Navy electronics schools and on board the U.S.S Panamint, but more importantly, he started introducing me to the outside world. On several occasions he took me to Worcester and Boston, and even snuck my under-age soul into the Old Howard Burlesque Theater. What an education I was receiving!

I frequently run into situations in life and as I cope with them I realize that it was with skills that Bob taught me, so I am deeply in debt to him, not just as a big brother, but also as a guru and mentor.

So Happy Birthday, Bob, and many thanks for being there as a big brother and good friend all these years.



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