September 2020 - 14

heart of North Beach. I think it was for
$28 a week. I had plenty of money, but I
was determined to live my life as a typically broke hippie. It was spectacular. I
spent six months having the best time of
my life. I came to understand the meaning of the counterculture, and I became
an active member.

'The seven greatest words
of my life'

Eventually, Weichsel began to feel
the pull of his previous life in New
York: friends, family and bridge. So
he made the painful decision to leave
Nirvana and go back to the East Coast
to resume a more traditional life.
"But I was transformed: I would
remain a full-fledged hippie for many
years until the counterculture died out.
But to this day, I'm what I would call a
reformed hippie."
Deciding to hitchhike his way home,
he headed south to Barstow CA, near
the famous Route 66, which could take
him cross-country.
Weichsel had barely stuck out his
thumb when an Ohio-bound driver
picked him up. They made it as far as
Oklahoma, driving nonstop. There, a
pair of toll roads led to a discussion
of how to pay for them. Neither party
wanted to spring for the toll, so another
hitchhiker was enlisted in the hopes
that he might pay. No luck.
"By then, we were getting very close
to the toll booth, and we were creeping
along. All of a sudden, a nice look-

14 Bridge Bulletin September 2020

ing car with New York license plates
pulled right into the space in front of
us, because we were barely moving.
This seemed to be worth a shot, so I
told our driver to wait a second, and I
ran out to the other car. I said, 'Are you
going to New York? I'm going to New
York, I could help you drive.' And out
poured the seven greatest words of my
life: 'I know you, get in the car.'"
Unbelievably, Weichsel had stumbled upon an old grade-school acquaintance, Eddie Sharp. It turned out that
Sharp wanted to get home as quickly as
possible to resume his job. They drove
all day and night, with the usual brief
stops, and the next day, Sharp dropped
Weichsel on his parents' doorstep.
Sharp lived less than two miles away.
Weichsel had hitchhiked across the
country in 56 hours on about $7.50.
"I maintain those are both world
records. I do often wonder what happened to those two other guys, though."

The hippie look

Weichsel's time in San Francisco
had altered his appearance in ways
that caused raised eyebrows in more
traditional settings.
One good thing the Navy did was provide bell-bottom jeans as work clothes.
I loved them and wore them religiously.
Needless to say, when my parents
opened the door, they were more than
a little bit shocked. My hair was quite
long by then. I probably had puka shells
around my neck or something similar.
Along with bell-bottoms and boots, I was
hardly what my straightlaced parents
were expecting. After getting over the
initial shock, they warmly greeted me,
and things eventually returned to normal.
After spending some time reconnecting with friends - causing varying
degrees of shock, interest and concern
- it was time to return to the bridge
world. Need I say that the ultra-straight
bridge community was not ready for my
return. I got tons of strange looks, and
even an occasional shake of the head,
but there were no verbal confrontations.
I actually think that my appearance may
have helped my results, because those
who didn't know me may have thought
I couldn't be much of a bridge player,
looking the way I did.

I do need to correct one thing for the
record: The ACBL website, Wikipedia
and other sources describe me wearing
my hair in a ponytail during this period.
That is not true; I always wore it straight
down. I didn't get a real haircut until
somewhere around 1980. It was really
long. In the early '70s, other bridge players started to grow their hair, too, but it
wasn't part of a movement, it was just
the hair style of the times.

New York state of mind

After his return to New York, Weichsel quickly established himself as one
of the best young players in the area.
Not only did he return to visit friends
at Town & Country, but he also became
a regular at other clubs in the area,
including the famous Mayfair Club in
central Manhattan run by the legendary Al Roth.
New York laid claim to being the
bridge center of the country. Weichsel
was able to meet many of the greats
there: Roth, Howard Schenken, Tobias
Stone, Edgar Kaplan, George Rapee,
Victor Mitchell, Ira Rubin, B.J. Becker
and - one of Weichsel's personal favorites - the colorful Johnny Crawford.
Weichsel also frequented the popular Player's Club on Long Island, run by
Billy Eisenberg. The Player's Club had
a number of promising young players,
while the Mayfair had a more established clientele.
The third club of note was the
Baronet, located close to Weichsel's
apartment in Queens. The Baronet was
primarily a rubber bridge club, with
all levels of players. It was run by Joel
Stuart, with whom Weichsel became a
good friend. Stuart would later become
a member of the Precision Team.

The 1970 Spingold KO Teams

Having practiced their system for
months, the five-man team of Altman,
Smith, Strasberg, Stuart and Weichsel
entered the 1970 Spingold Knockout
Teams, held in Boston. Altman and
Weichsel would play most sessions:
Altman would split his time partnering
Strasberg and Stuart, while Weichsel
played half with Smith and half with

September 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2020