Dolph
Schayes (1928-2015)
There’s
a summer camp in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains of New York State, up a big
hill from the towns of Bolton Landing and Lake George, on a small body of water
called Trout Lake. It’s called Camp
Walden and this special place has been operating continuously since 1931. I found out about Camp Walden when I was 11,
because my best friend Bernie’s dad had a connection to the camp. In many ways,
Camp Walden changed my life.
What
brings this up is my attendance on Monday in Syracuse, New York, at the funeral
of long-time friend Dolph Schayes. Dolph
was a basketball player (it’s strange how one minute we refer to someone as
‘is’ and in the next instance, it becomes ‘was’). In fact, Dolph was named one of the 50 greatest basketball players in NBA
(National Basketball Association) History!
And for many years, Dolph ran a week-long basketball camp following the
end of the regular 8-week summer camp season at Walden. While there is now a proliferation of these
camps, Dolph’s was the second of its kind when he started. Then at some point, Dolph became a part owner
of Camp Walden with Mel Besdin and was there for the entire summer. Like a number of children in that era, Dolph
and his wife Naomi’s children, David, Debbie, Carrie and Danny Schayes, spent
their summers from a very young age at Walden.
Walden
was - and still is - a special place. Life-long friendships (and some
marriages) started there and, even if there’s 30 years - or more - between interactions,
when you run into a fellow ‘Waldenite’ the conversation picks up as if it were
yesterday. I actually had this experience
Monday when, at the reception following Dolph’s beautiful funeral service at Temple
Concord in Syracuse, I ran into Mike Stark.
Mike was the head counselor at camp when I was a camper and later a
counselor. While I had seen his daughter
Cindy a couple of times over the years, this was the first time I had seen Mike
in, oh, more than 40 years! Mike was a
teacher in Syracuse and then a school administrator. And he was also a basketball coach and
referee and was a star guard on the Syracuse University basketball team. Now 88 years old, and sharp as a tack, Mike
and I reminisced about the old days and a few of the old crowd. It was wonderful to see him again.
Because
of Dolph’s involvement, Camp Walden attracted some basketball players who became
camp counselors. Virtually all were
involved in the Syracuse basketball program but due to NCAA (National
Collegiate Athletic Association) rules at that time, only 2 or 3 (if memory
serves me well) players from the same college team could be at a summer camp at
the same time otherwise it would be seen as the team trying to get a head start
on the ‘legal’ first day of practice - October 15 (This date has since evolved
into a ritual on many college campuses called ‘Midnight Madness’ - where the
first practice of the season starts at midnight on October 15 – and the
basketball arenas are filled). One of
those Syracuse players that was a counselor at Walden for several years is Jim
Boeheim. Jimmy played for the Syracuse
Orangemen in the 1960’s and has been connected with the team in a coaching
capacity (first as an assistant and now as head coach) since 1969 – being named
head coach in 1976. Jim’s counselor days
at Walden were in the mid/late 1960’s and that’s when he and I met. In an
online piece reporting Dolph’s death last week, Jimmy is quoted, "Dolph is a legendary figure in Syracuse. He
was an all-time great, great player. His camp had a big influence on
me."
At Dolph’s funeral, some of his 9
grandchildren spoke talking about their Grandpa, not as a basketball legend but
as a person. They talked about the funny
games he played with them (many of them made up by the man himself) and his
involvement with their lives. Then
Dolph’s four children spoke about their dad.
His humility. His passion for history. The eulogies included a number of
comments, which drew laughter from the packed temple audience. Dolph would not have had it any differently –
he had a great sense of humor and was always playing games – and not just
basketball games! His son Danny was also
a star basketball player at Syracuse University and went on to an 18-year
career in the NBA. He told a few ‘funny’
stories about what it was like for him, growing up playing basketball, with his
Dad in the stands. Dolph was a
passionate competitor who not only played professional basketball but also
coached the Philadelphia 76ers and was the supervisor of the NBA referees. Danny related one story when, during a
professional game he was playing in, there was a bad call made against
him. Dolph ran down in the stands to get
behind the scorer’s table (right at courtside) and shouted to the official, “I
should never have hired you!” Hearing
this story, the mourners totally broke up in laughter – that was Dolph.
You see, Dolph Schayes was a special person –
who cared, really cared, about people.
It was mentioned how he would talk with random people, everywhere he
went, showing sincere interest in them.
People looked up to Dolph – not just because he stood 6’8” – but because
of who he was as a man – a guy who grew up spending a lot of time on the
basketball court in the Bronx (NY), as a star basketball player at DeWitt
Clinton High School and New York University (NYU) and graduating from there
with a degree in, what is now called aerospace engineering - the primary
field of engineering concerned
with the development of aircraft and spacecraft.
Sitting amongst Dolph’s family and friends
yesterday, it struck me that Dolph was not a man who you felt would ever
die. He was a truly larger-than-life
figure, someone whose smile was ever-present and who made everyone he came in
contact with feel important. How special is that? Some of what I heard yesterday got me
thinking about my own life and maybe some things that I’d like to change before
my time comes – 30+ years down the road.
Dolph Schayes was one of the kindest, most
generous men I have ever known. My
brother Jay included this in an email to the family:
I have strong memories of his gentleness and kindness.
I remember first meeting him when I was 10 years old. He was by
far the biggest man I had ever seen. I believe my eyes were at his belt
buckle. Standing close to him, I looked up to see his smiling face and
warm eyes. This memory is vivid. I have other memories
of Dolph, but none of them nearly so clear.
What I do recall was that he was ALWAYS soft spoken, kind, warm, and
NEVER harsh or critical. Even when I was caught doing things that were
highly inappropriate, Dolph was ALWAYS the most gentle, sincere and
empathetic adult at Camp.
Camp Walden was a very important part of my life.
Dolph was a very powerful influence on me.
I carry him with me.
Jay, this is a beautiful testament to a special
guy.
Camp Walden has been owned since the early
2000’s by Lauren and Mark Bernstein. They are wonderful people who have done
amazing things with the camp. Lauren and
Mark also appreciate and respect Walden’s history and alumni community. Those of us old-timers are always welcome to
visit, something I’ve done in the past two seasons. Under them the camp embodies the same special
family feeling that it had when I was there and I know many life-long
friendships are still beginning there. I
believe it’s one of the finest summer camps anywhere with facilities that none
of us, back in the day, could even imagine.
But the property is still the same beautiful place – built on a hill,
overlooking Trout Lake with newer buildings having been constructed to ‘fit in’
with the older bunks and administrative buildings.
In 2003, a bunch of us organized a camp
reunion – if it weren’t for the Internet and email it wouldn’t have been
possible. More than 50 of us converged
on Montreal. The camp has always
attracted campers and counselors from Montreal, Syracuse and the greater New
York City area. It
was a special time. The camp is
sponsoring a reunion day next June and some of us are already in touch and plan
to make a weekend of it. I have a
feeling that Dolph would have come to that reunion but while the big man with
the even bigger heart won’t be there, his spirit will be and I’m sure we will be
sharing ‘Dolph Stories.’
I have a few of my own Dolph stories, which
I’ll be happy to share if you’re interested the next time we see each
other. Camp Walden was a very important
part of my life. Those of us that knew Dolph from Camp Walden share special
memories, of him and of a time when things were very different in the world –
much simpler than today. They are times
that I would not trade for anything.
Bud Poliquin, Syracuse sportswriter and host
of a daily sports talk show on ESPN radio wrote an excellent piece about
Dolph’s funeral, which can be found here.
I know all my Walden friends join me in
sharing our sincerest condolences to Dolph’s family – Naomi, his wife of more
than 60 years (an accomplished pianist I learned this week); their four children
- David, Debbie, Carrie and Danny; his nine grandchildren - Abbi,
Bengie, Carla, Hannah, Julia, Kevin, Logan, Mickey and Rachel) and all
those whose lives he touched in a way similar to how he touched mine and my
brothers’ – and there are a lot of those folks out there! Given Dolph’s college
degree in aerospace engineering I can visualize him right now, in his own
spacecraft, traveling the heavens and visiting with people he knew, and those
he’s never met. Dolph loved people and
everyone loved Dolph.
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| Dolph and me |
