Paul Fortnow (1937-1980)

My father passed away 25 years ago today. I thought I would share some of the lessons I learned from him.

• Once you win an argument, stop arguing.
• Always play to win. He would always take a handicap and play his hardest rather than dumb down his play particularly in chess, his favorite game.
• When he went to college, the engineers measured their prowess in the number of digits of precision they could get from their slide rules. I guess he didn't get enough digits as he gave up engineering and eventually went into marketing.
• The extra character in a movie that seems to serve no purpose is the one that committed the murder.
• He said "When you grow up and drive you can choose the radio station." Like my daughters let me get away with that.
• Nixon really was a crook.
• Given enough money, there is nothing anyone won't do.
• He meticulously taught me how to keep score in baseball as this is a skill every American should know. He then told me never to keep score as it distracts from the game.
• The two course he regretted not taking in college were art and music appreciation. So I took art appreciation in my first year. Big mistake. For the record the two courses I wish I took were economics and mathematical logic.

Dad, if you are surfing the net from the great beyond know that I miss you and my family, including the daughter-in-law and granddaughters you never met, think of you often. And your Red Sox finally won the World Series.