As a
college kid Sid was a member of the free-style wrestling team in campus.
Wrestling is tough, but contrary to general perception, is
more akin to a sort of physical chess than to a brutal contest. Success in it
does not rest on plain force but rather on the way force is applied in subtle
combination with position, timing and understanding of a sparring partner
intentions.
I
never saw Sid on the mat, but I like to remember him as a wrestler of ideas and
life. One hard as steel to be sure, yet one that was the gentlest in the world,
so tactful and essential. One that touched me in many ways.
As a
wrestler of ideas the message that Sid relentlessly left to me was that society
and culture are rooted in the contest between those who have too much and those
who have too little. His wrestling of that message through the Mc Carty era
elected him as one of my revered elders. His holding the stance when
the fare was not the day’s staple, made him my supporting compadre. In
both cases his clever dodging of mainstream opinion remains a testament to me:
with work, we can be true to ourselves, make wine against prevalent fashion and
still have it declared a vintage cru. I do not know if I applied
successfully the lesson, yet for good or worse that was the mainstay of my
after-Hopkins trek.
But,
perhaps the way Sid impressed me the most was as a wrestler of life. I
always thought that behind his non-chalant detachment, Sid was a mensch with
tremendous passion and curiosity for whatever a day could bring in. Sid did not
like priests, but his determination to make the best of it anytime and anyhow
was his sort of religion. Sid fed and defended his passion methodically
opposing adversity and age with supreme discipline, holding opponents with
arresting wits, making friends with superhuman touch, setting the pace with
devastating smiles and exorcizing boredom with story-telling crafts able to
transform mundane grocery visits into world-ranging adventures.
Now
that I am no longer in my prime and sometimes I have to blow on my sail to
advance, I think often to Sid wrestling gifts. That memory gives me energy and
points to a simple truth: life is what it is, it needs to be conquered
and needs to be embraced. After all life is all we have.
Thank
you Sid.
