My mom is a loving and tolerant wife, mother, and grandmother. And she needs that tolerance because my dad is a pretty interesting character. These days he contents himself with climbing assorted mountains and taking his llamas, backpacking, but once upon a time he was world-class fast. He even had his own bubble-gum card .

The above was written a while ago. My dad died this year of Pancreatic cancer. He was a fighter, and he continued climbing mountains up to six weeks before he died. Here is a picture of my mother at the dedication ceremony for Mike Larrabee Stadium in Ventura.

It hasn't been announced yet, but my dad was just elected to the Track and Field Hall of fame with three other atheletes. This means a lot to my family, and we are very happy about it.