September 2019 - 14

Claim
to Fame

ACBL Hall of Fame inducts five players
BY PAUL LINXWILER

Five players were inducted into the
ACBL Hall of Fame as the class of 2019
during a ceremony in Las Vegas at
the Summer NABC. Peter Boyd, Bart
Bramley and Judi Radin were chosen
by the Hall of Fame electors for the
Open category, while Patty Tucker
received the Blackwood Award for
her contributions to the game, and the
late Michael Seamon received the von
Zedtwitz Award in recognition of his
bridge accomplishments. Additionally,
Curtis Cheek received the Sidney H.
Lazard Jr. Sportsmanship Award.
Marc Jacobus presented Cheek for
the sportsmanship honor.
"I met Curtis 30 years ago. He's a
great opponent and a great person. He
always introduced himself at the table,
and he always smiled, but when play
started, he was a killer. Curtis is what
bridge is about."
Jacobus is also Cheek's father-inlaw, a point that Cheek spoke about in
his acceptance speech.
"My bridge family and my 'real' family are connected. I'm the luckiest guy
in the world."
Cheek - a six-time NABC champion
- spoke about a formative experience
when he was young that affected the
way he thinks about table demeanor.
Curtis Cheek,
recipient of
the Sidney H.
Lazard Jr.
Sportsmanship
Award

14 Bridge Bulletin September 2019

New ACBL Hall of Famers Bart Bramley, Judi Radin
and Peter Boyd were chosen by electors for the Open Award.

"I've played bridge 44 years. My dad
taught me. But after playing just a little
bit, I became somewhat arrogant about
my skill and said something to my
father at the table that was hurtful, and
he never played again. I learned that
calling myself a genius but describing
my partner as stupid is wrong. And it's
bad for the game."
Tucker, an NABC champion and a
former Honorary Member of the Year
- was presented by bridge partner and
life partner Kevin Collins.
"Patty is a serial volunteer. She's
worked with the American Bridge
Teachers' Association, Atlanta Youth
Bridge, the Foundation for the Preservation and Advancement of Bridge, and
many other groups. She's also an innovator, always looking to bring players
into the game. Learn Bridge in a Day
and Bridge in a Box were her ideas.
"When people asked, 'Where are
the young players?' Patty is the one
who did something about it, creating
the Youth NABC, now in its 12th year.
Patty has given lot of her time."
Tucker said, "It's not a solitary accomplishment. I've been helped by
my unit, my district, by clubs in my
area, by the ACBL. It really does take a
village. There are many, many people
who helped me over the year, not just
my bridge family, but my personal
family, who sacrificed, too. My parents

told me that you can do anything or be
anything, depending on how much you
want it. Bridge will exist forever, but
what I want is for bridge to thrive and
grow."
Justin Lall presented 16-time
NABC champion Seamon for the von
Zedtwitz Award.
"The first time we played in a knockout match, Michael told me to never
take my foot off the gas, because you
never know what's happening at the
other table. He made his teammates
feel empowered and liberated to play
their best. He wasn't interested in winning postmortems, but rather in getting his teammates to play their best.
"It's amazing how natural and easy
card play was to him; but he always
wanted to win the right way. It was an
honor and a privilege to play with him."
Michael's sister, Janice SeamonMolson, said that she and Michael
grew up in a bridge-playing family; the
extended Seamon family is one of the
great bridge dynasties. Their parents
played at all the nationals. One of her
earliest memories was falling asleep on
a couch in the lobby of the Americana
Hotel in Miami; her parents were still
discussing hands from the evening session with friends. But when Michael
started taking an interest in the game,
Janice did, too, "in self-defense."
"Michael became more and more

September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2019