I have written of him in my first book, Leadership, Power & Consequences. He was on a backpacking trip with his campers in the snow fields when there was an incident where he, as the junior counselor, ran down the mountain to the ranger station for help. He remained cool in this emergency and handled it well.
He was Intelligent and capable in so many ways. We needed a few more horses at Camp Shasta, so I sent him and two others to the weekly horse sales in Redding, California.
I clearly remember him asking me, “How do I know a good riding horse from a bad one?” I told him to ask the “old timers” who were shopping for horses themselves would show him the way.
I can’t remember how many they bought, but they did remarkably well, including arranging delivery to camp. While he may not have known anything about riding horses, he was the right kid to be assigned this task. I knew his father often took him to the racetrack in his early years, and he had an immense love and knowledge of thoroughbreds. I could always depend on him to do the right thing.
He came to us in the early fifties and remained until Camp Shasta closed in 1970. I asked him and another long-term camper he grew up with at Purple Sage to come to Las Vegas to staff, train and operate a Day Camp for a local Temple. According to the people at the Temple, they ran the best program they had ever had. I was like a “proud father.”
He is the owner of five thoroughbred racehorses today and apparently still picks the right ones because his horses regularly win at the tracks. Maybe one day, he’ll make it to the Kentucky Derby. He has it in him to get there. Sadly, his co-director at the Temple camp passed away. Our loss.
Sy
