WeissCrax author Randy Weiss, right, with his old journalism professor and mentor Jerry Leone. The pair reunited recently after 36 years.
It came early this year …
September, actually.
And it was a gift many years in the making – 36 by last count.
Three-missed calls one night in rapid-fire succession on my cell phone nearly a year before that, unknowingly, set things in motion.
All three calls from same number. Area code 9-1-9.
No clue where that was …
So, immediately after next morning java – there was only one thing to do.
It rang twice, then this after hello …
Me: Ah, yes, hi, er …I had three missed calls from this phone number last night.
Him: Randy, you don’t know who this is, do you? (The hearty laugh confirmed this guy was messing with me and enjoying it!)
Me: No.
Him: Are you sure?
Me: Yes.
Him: Jerry Leone.
Blew me away!!
‘Big Jer’ was my college professor. Mentor. And friend.
Jerry with wife Barb in North Carolina.
Hearing his voice sparked a gazillion, immediate flashbacks of a kinder, gentler time of junior college in upstate New Yawk in ’72 — my first real steps towards my sports writing dream.
Now retired, Jerry was the life force and seasoned dean of J-Department (as in Journalism) –- he and rookie professor, Neal Bandlow, were the coolest guys on the planet.
Smart. Helpful. Fun. And easy with whom to talk in class or over a beer downtown – waaay back when they were a quarter a draft.
Miss those days…
Big Jer and Neal, more than anyone else, nurtured our dreams – mine, by then, already 10 years in the making.
We listened to everything they told us as 18 year-old college freshmen. We were all so young. Some of us had edgy and even self-inflicted ethnic nicknames like Dirty Ernie. Floozy Suzie. Jimmy the … well, never mind.
After 1974 graduation, we traded holiday cards many seasons but gradually lost touch the last 10 or 15 or so years.
Hadn’t seen Big Jer and his dear wife Barb since Alumni Weekend in 1975 – a 36 year span!
Now on this call, Jerry and me quickly caught up on life. Family. Alums. We pledged to keep in better touch.
As we signed off, he said: “If you are ever back this way in North Carolina, you always have a place to stay.”
We became fast Facebook friends. We called. We emailed. We re-connected.
Then, this past summer with news that my nephew Jason was getting married in South Carolina — there was a certain call to make to area code 9-1-9.
Me: Hey, Big Jer — were you serious about staying with you and Barb if I was in your ‘hood?
Him: No, I was only kidding.
Me: Well, how far are you Myrtle Beach?
Him: About three hours.
Me: Cool. I gotta be there mid-September — how ‘bout if I fly out early and hang out with ‘youz guys’ for a coupla days?
Him: That would be incredible.
So I did! And it was …
After a red-eye flight from Santa Barbara to Raleigh-Durham, there was Big Jer standing larger than life by his white Lexus SUV with LEONE2 on the license plate just outside of baggage claim.
With the bear hug, the years quickly melted away …
Over the next 48 hours, we ate. We drank. We worked out! We toured town. With his beautiful Barbara, we reminisced about a different lifetime ago.
It all felt very much like home.
Like family.
And those dreams that Jerry and Neal nurtured eventually come true for many who pursued them.
They did for me, too …
Especially today as it marks my two-year Presidio Sports anniversary with this being the 60th WeissCrax piece to roll out.
There have also been Sports Figures of the Month celebratory articles … prelude pieces for the SB Triathlon and recent SB International Marathon … game day assignments … it’s all been quite a ride, mucho fun and a labor of love.
Quite honestly, it doesn’t really happen without those two wonderful years of specialized training and care across the country now almost 40 years ago.
And like that commercial – a rare chance to spend some quality time this year bonding with a dear friend and mentor, instrumental in making it all happen?
Priceless.
So, on this Thanksgiving – a very public: ‘Thanks Big Jer. I love ya, man!”
Sure glad I got the chance to tell you in person.
In September.
Early Christmas in the Carolinas, indeed …
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Special Thanksgiving Shout-Out to my Presidio Sports Bosses & Friends:
John Dvorak & Barry Punzal
Thanks, guys!! You rock!!EDITOR: Thanks Randy, so do you!!
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