"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."– Steve Jobs
My journey during these last two years has taken me to places that I have never imagined. Of course, I attribute the beginning to 1997 when I first had significant contact with the ride and tie community. I entered a limited distance endurance ride at Mt. Hamilton in San Jose called the Mustang classic. Not knowingly at the time, I was parked next to two ride and tie individuals. After completing my endurance ride, I struck up a conversation with these two individuals. They seemed friendly enough. We talked about a number of things including my interest in ride and tie. After a while, two other participants from ride and tie came over and we talked. The president of the ride and tie Association told me he would find me a partner for the next ride and tie which was called Quicksilver. My life changed at that point along with my direction. So I am going to blame, for all the resulting changes that took place, Secretariat since he was one of those individuals at the Mustang classic.
Through this sport I met many individuals who later became friends. In 2009, I thought about writing a book. I started with two focus groups receiving input about my ideas as well as getting information from the participants. Then I formulated hypotheses that assisted in developing a questionnaire that I would use, with my interviewees. Then I started thinking about the various individuals that I knew who could be possible subjects for my research project.
One day I was reading a book titled “Growing Old Is Not for Sissies” and in that book there were pictures of members of the Marin rowing club. I procured a phone number and called an officer in the Marin rowing club ,told him of my project and asked him for some names of rowers who are still competing.
To make a long story short, Jack Sholl is a name that I was given. I contacted Jack, told him of my project, and he became a significant part of my story. I’ve gotten to know Jack these past two years and am anxious to tell his story. My life has been blessed by meeting Jack.
Jack’s story is a real inspiration and his life is remarkable. Aside from being a gold medal rower, this man has been in a shell some 65 years and still going strong. He has been all over the world in international competitions and is simply a legend in the sport of rowing. However, that is only part of his story. The other part pertains to him being a son of the American Revolution with family ties going back to the one and only William Penn. Yes that man and the state of Pennsylvania are the same. Jack is an expert when it comes to the Revolutionary war. He volunteers his time at the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, at the US Coast Guard in California, and gives oral presentations about George Washington and Hyam Solomon. I’m proud to say that Jack is my friend. Oh by the way, Jack, his wife Joan, and Secretariat and his wife are going to be our dinner guests this evening.
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