Paul Soloway Friends remember Paul Soloway From the ACBL Website Paul Soloway, the ACBL's all-time leading masterpoint holder and one of the great players of all time, died of complications from an infection on Monday at a hospital in the Seattle area. He was 66. At the time of his death, Soloway's masterpoint holding was at 65,511.92, more than 6000 ahead of second on the list. Soloway was elected to the ACBL Bridge Hall of Fame in 2001, the first year he was eligible (minimum age of 60) and was inducted in 2002. He was a key member of the Nick Nickell team that has dominated North American and world bridge for more than a decade. He was a member of the winning Bermuda Bowl team five times, the latest in Monte Carlo in 2003. He also won more than two dozen North American championships. At his last NABC this summer in Nashville, Soloway was part of the winning squad in the Spingold Knockout Teams, his ninth win in that event. He was scheduled to play with the Nickell team in the Bermuda Bowl in Shanghai, China, this fall but his illness kept him from making the trip. Soloway lived in Mill Creek WA, a suburb of Seattle with his wife, Pam. Paul Soloway, 66, world bridge champion Paul Soloway, five times a world bridge champion and the holder of the largest collection of master points, died on Mondayin Seattle. He was 66. His death followed a long illness, said Pam Pruitt, his wife. Soloway, who lived in Mill Creek, Wash., won five Bermuda Bowl world-team titles with four different partners and placed second twice. He also gained silver medals in two World Team Olympiads. In North America he won nearly 30 national titles, including nine Spingolds, six Vanderbilts and five Reisingers. At the time of his death, he had 65,511.92 master points, more than 6,000 ahead of the second-place player. Soloway was elected to the American Contract Bridge League's Hall of Fame in 2001, his first year of eligibility, and was inducted the next year. Born Oct. 10, 1941, in Los Angeles, he nearly lost his life at age 3 when he fell into a swimming pool at the home of George Raft, a family friend. He was saved only because the gangster Bugsy Siegel, who happened to be visiting his friend Raft that day, immediately dived into the pool and pulled him out. Soloway majored in business studies at college because, he said, it was the
easiest course. He learned to play bridge while in college, having been encouraged
to take up the game by his parents. His public profile was raised in 1971 when he was asked to join the Dallas Aces, the team formed by Ira G. Corn Jr. with the main goal of regaining the Bermuda Bowl for the United States. Soloway stayed with the Aces for only one year, winning a silver medal in the 1972 World Team Olympiad, but being a versatile player he won three consecutive Bermuda Bowl titles in 1976, 1977 and 1979, with three different partners: Ira Rubin, John Swanson and Bobby Goldman. In summer 1998 Soloway joined the Nick Nickell team, the most successful in the world over the last 15 years. With his partner Bob Hamman he won the Bermuda Bowl in 2000 and 2003, and nine national team titles. Plagued by ill health for much of his life — he had open-heart surgery in 1988 and 1999 — he exhibited an amazing mental toughness. Only 28 days after a quadruple heart bypass in December 1999, he traveled to Bermuda for the 2000 Bermuda Bowl and won Paul Soloway, 66; master bridge player Nicknamed 'Win 'em all Paul,' he was a five-time world champion. He won dozens
of national titles and more than 1,000 regional ones. Paul Soloway, a master bridge player who was a five-time world champion and held more than two dozen national titles, has died. He was 66. Soloway, who had diabetes, died Monday at a Seattle-area hospital of complications from an infection, said his sister, Alison Greenberg. Bill Pollack, vice president of the U.S. Bridge Federation, called Soloway "a great champion and a true gentleman of the game." "Both his accomplishments and his personal demeanor set him apart," Pollack said in an e-mail. The bridge world nicknamed the keen competitor "Win 'em all Paul," a reflection of the more than 1,000 regional titles he held. He won his first national title in 1965 and was on the Nick Nickell team that has been the most successful in the world during the last decade. No one had more master points -- the system used to measure bridge achievement -- than Soloway. At the time of his death, he had almost 65,512, which put him more than 6,000 points ahead of his nearest competitor, according to the American Contract Bridge League. "His amazing record of master points will someday be broken, but his feats
of the last years will be impossible to match," Jay Baum, the league's
chief executive, said in a statement. Paul Michael Soloway was born Oct. 10, 1941, in Hollywood and raised in Beverly
Hills. His father sold real estate, and his mother was a catering manager.While
studying computer science at what is now Cal State Northridge, Soloway discovered
bridge. The game appealed to him because it was "a little bit psychology,
a little bit poker and a lot of puzzle-solving or problem-solving," Soloway
told the Seattle Times in 1993. His parents had encouraged him to take up bridge
as a social outlet, but "for many years, they bitterly regretted their
suggestion" after the college graduate became a professional player in
his 20s, Soloway told the Los Angeles Times in 1974. He joked that his mother
and father called him "My son, the bridge bum" but added: "It's
turned out all right." Memorial donations may be made to the Diabetes Research Institute Foundation,
www.diabetesresearch.org. Paul Soloway, at 66; was bridge champ five times By Phillip Alder NEW YORK - Paul Soloway, five times a world bridge champion and the holder of the largest collection of master points, died Monday in Seattle. He was 66. His death followed a long illness, said Pam Pruitt, his wife. Mr. Soloway - who lived in Mill Creek, Wash. - won five Bermuda Bowl world-team titles with four different partners and placed second twice. He also gained silver medals in two World Team Olympiads. In North America, he won nearly 30 national titles, including nine Spingolds, six Vanderbilts, and five Reisingers. At the time of his death, he had 65,511.92 master points, more than 6,000 ahead of the second-place player. Mr. Soloway was elected to the American Contract Bridge League's Hall of Fame
in 2001, his first year of eligibility, and was inducted the next year. Mr. Soloway majored in business studies at college because, he said, it was the easiest course. He learned to play bridge while in college, having been encouraged to take up the game by his parents. After graduating, he worked only briefly before becoming a bridge professional in 1966. He spent 35 to 40 weeks a year on bridge, traveling all over North America to play professionally in tournaments. His public profile was raised in 1971 when he was asked to join the Dallas
Aces, the team formed by Ira G. Corn Jr. with the main goal of regaining the
Bermuda Bowl for the United States. In summer 1998, Mr. Soloway joined the Nick Nickell team, the most successful in the world over the last 15 years. With his partner Bob Hamman he won the Bermuda Bowl in 2000 and 2003 and nine national team titles. Plagued by ill health for much of his life - he had open-heart surgery in 1988 and 1999 - he exhibited an amazing mental toughness. Only 28 days after a quadruple heart bypass in December 1999, he traveled to Bermuda for the 2000 Bermuda Bowl and won. Mr. Soloway went out as a winner, collecting his ninth Spingold title at the Summer North American Championships in Nashville, Tenn., last July as part of the Nickell team, despite having to come to the table in pain and in a motorized wheelchair. © Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
|
