Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 11, 1993 TAG: 9302110129
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Leslie Taylor
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A CHANCE MEETING CREATED SPECIAL MESSAGE, NOW RECALLED
Sports participation was important to Dad, an athlete in high school and in college. He made certain that athletics were part of the lives of his three children - all daughters.For the oldest, it was golf. For the youngest, it was track.
For me, the middle one, tennis was the sport of choice.
Arthur Ashe was at his peak during my early teens. His celebrity, however quiet, gave black youngsters like me some hope that we, too, could hammer away at the color barrier of a historically white sport.
So I pursued tennis - with much frustration. I never reached any great heights. And eventually, it became a sport of pleasure, not competition.
In November 1971, Dad was in Brussels, Belgium, for a NATO meeting. He stepped outside of his hotel and walked into the path of a tall, lean black man - Arthur Ashe.
They chatted, Dad explaining that his daughter was a big fan and was in the midst of tennis lessons. Ashe was kind, Dad said. He wished the daughter good luck with the lessons.
Dad asked Ashe for an autograph. On a magazine cover, Ashe scribbled a short note in black ink.
For years, I guarded the precious autograph. I carried it to college, overseas, to my first job. Then, it simply faded from memory.
I spoke with Dad on Monday. We talked of Ashe's death.
Dad recalled his brief meeting with Ashe and remembered how gracious he had been. Dad asked if I remembered the autograph.
Sure, I told him, wondering if I still had it.
I dug through some old files Tuesday night. I found the tattered magazine cover in a pile of memorabilia that the pack rat in me refuses to discard.
I called Dad and read him Ashe's message:
"To Leslie, `Peace,' Arthur Ashe."
Leslie Taylor covers local schools for this newspaper