Bowlers Journal At 100 KEYSTROKES AND BRUSHSTROKES
founding by a cigar-smoking Chicago shoe salesman, through the tumultuous years of bowling boom and bust, to a new and be- wildering generation of sport and media? From a personal standpoint, it has been a hell of a ride. When I first joined the “staff” in 1953, it never dawned on me that I’d still be running the magazine 40 years later. I couldn’t imagine that my bowling journeys would take me to more than 70 countries as the sport established roots around the world. And how do you
summarize the human experience of meeting and dealing with so many thousands of ath- letes, business people and journalists over the years? Every once in a while, I’ll remember a wild night on the town 30 years ago with some crazy Bangkok Post sportswriters. Or I’ll recall a difficult interview with a bowler after he blew an important tournament in a big public arena in some major U.S. city. Or I’ll reminisce about some big business deal that enabled us to continue to pay the printer, the Post Office, the paper bill and our people. It’s funny how you remember the goofy along with the sublime.
Is there any way to adequately describe the metamorphous of bowling as a sport and an industry? How do you track the shift from team-oriented leagues to sin- gles-dominated pro formats to a decided trend toward cocktail-hour informality? Imagine how all this has affected the man- ufacturers and distributors who supply the industry. Imagine how it has altered the content of our magazines. Of course, the chal-
Mort Luby made one publishing blunder with a magazine for the amusement industry, but says the best decision of his life was marrying Pat, his wife of 15 years.
lenge of technology has always hovered over the scene. Do typewrit- ers and type-setting machines seem quaint today? We thought the future had arrived when IBM came up with an electric typewriter more than 50 years ago. Our company’s first primitive
computer system was both incomprehen- sible and financially scary. Don’t you won- der what will come next after the current generation of smart phones, smart tablets and other smarty pants devices? Now, of course, great media sages are
predicting the death of print. That would appear to be very bad news for magazine publishers. But the current owners of Luby Publishing have embraced the new
Today, Mort Luby devotes most of his time to painting, and last year published this book of his Chicago-themed pieces.
technology with a vengeance. As long as print makes sense, they’ll print. If the entire media world eventually goes electronic, they’re prepared. As for your faithful correspondent, I’m
pleased to report that life goes on rather comfortably. I’ve been married for 15 years to a woman I’ve loved for a long, long time. We live in a big, old house on five acres of woods, some 40 miles from the LPI office. The place is jammed with dozens of paintings I’ve created over the years. I paint almost every day in my second-floor pool house studio. When the Chicago weather obliges, I paint outdoors with some plein air pals. The Lubys spend the winter on Maui, where we have a fabulous view of the ocean and where my paintings are sold in four galleries.
Last year, I published a coffee table
book, Chicago Brushstrokes, which is a compilation of some 100 paintings I created on the streets of my favorite city. It’s sold at the Chicago Art Insti- tute, the Chicago Historical Museum, the Chicago Architecture Institute and a dozen other retail outlets. I’m working on a couple of other art books. I’ll continue to visit and write for LPI as long as I’m able. I enjoy my little second career in art, but writing about bowling and bowling characters is my first love. The fact that I’ve lasted long enough
to see Grandpa Dave’s magazine begin its second century brings me more joy than you can possibly imagine.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /////////////////// December 2013 12
EVERYTHING BOWLING, ALL THE TIME
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31