Re: DAVID HALBERSTAM, 1934–2007: The Be st and the Brightest

[Gabriel Kahn]

I appreciate your mentioning this. You're lucky in that you got to 
know him a bit. I always wanted to, but never got the chance. I was 
in the middle of the Powers That Be yesterday on an elliptical 
machine and telling someone about him and then thinking that I hope 
he comes out with something on Clinton or the current administration. 
So incredibly sad.
gabe

At 07:51 AM 4/24/2007, you wrote:
>This willl maybe considered a bit off-subject, but please humor
>me.   Because in many ways Halberstam portrayed the very
>best in what sports once were.
>
>I first met David back in 1970 through his dear mother,
>a charming, gracious, refined, but frail little white-haired
>woman who spent her summers in Ogunquit, Me., site of our
>hotel.   She was the type of woman who made you think
>"They just don't make them like that any more." And
>immediately, I hit it off with her very special son, David,
>remaining a huge admirer and friend ever since.
>
>Not only did Dave write with passion, courage, and honesty
>about moral issues such as Civil Rights struggles, the Vietnam War,
>the auto industry, etc., but he also loved sports - skillfully portraying
>the Olympics, Bird, Magic, Jordan, Belichick, and the Red Sox in his
>classic novel "Summer of '49."   Persuasion hung upon his lips.
>
>My only regret is that he didn't live long enough to publish
>future books about the continued folly of the Iraqi War and the
>abject greed and shlock of the new breed of NBA team owners
>and players.
>
>He was a man for all seasons, born of both yesterday and today.
>And I loved him for being so.   With yesterday's news, my wreath
>has now lost its rose.
>
>      "The crueler the war gets, the crueler the attacks get on
>      anybody who doesn't salute or play the game," he said.
>      "And then one day, the people who are doing the attacking
>      look around, and they've used up their credibility."
>           - David Halberstam
>
>Egg
>
>
>
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