Eddie .. happy birthday to one of my heroes.

If I were asked to provide a model for the ideal bridge teacher I would pick Eddie Kantar.  I have watched him do many sessions for the bridge teachers and others.  He is always funny … the stories he tells!  He is always interesting and can see so many things in a bridge hand.  He is always patient, carefully explaining ideas and answering lots of questions.  He knows so much about bridge but he has a way of reaching students of all levels and experts too.  If you are lucky enough to have a chance to listen to an Eddie Kantar lecture don’t pass it up!

If I were asked to name my ideal bridge teammate Eddie would be on the top of my list.  The few times I have been fortunate enough to play a team game with Eddie at the other table it has been fun and educational.  Discussions with Eddie are never about assigning blame they are always thoughtful and interesting.

If I had to pick a fourth for bridge Eddie would be on the top of my list too.  Always carrying a deck of cards, Eddie is ready to play bridge most any time.  And there is often a lively discussion following interesting hands.  You have the privilege of learning from one of the world’s best players.

Eddie is one of the world’s foremost technical experts about the game.  He has thought about subjects like keycard Blackwood in more depth than anybody else ever will.  He has written one of the definitive tracks on forcing passes and someday I would like to talk to him about that since I still don’t quite understand some of the finer points.

Eddie is one of the most generous people I know.  He is not just generous with his time, he is generous with his material.  If you have a question about one of his books Eddie will take the time to answer you.  And if you want to see a lot of interesting bridge ideas and jokes for free just visit his website.

Eddie does of course write material for bridge magazines but he does keep threatening to stop bridge books but somehow there is always another new book or revision in him… revisions because he can always see a way to do it better. Eddie never stops learning.

So happy birthday Eddie and thank you for teaching me, challenging me, giving me a laugh, writing all that wonderful material, playing bridge with Ray and me and being my friend.