When I think of tennis one name usually pops up. Folks my age in south Arkansas will recognize it immediately: Myron Schoffner.

When we moved back to El Dorado in the mid-1970s, tennis was a national obsession. I had played for several years in Corpus Christi, Texas. I was a pretty decent player, and started playing on the local courts. After a couple of years playing singles tennis with friends and others, someone said to me, "You should give Myron Schoffner a call. He's always looking for a match."

When I called him, he said, "Sure, how about this afternoon?"

Myron was 15 years older than me, so I figured he might take a few games early on, but I would be able to handle him easily. Was I wrong! We played six sets and the score was the same in every set: 6-0. I felt lucky to win a point, much less a game. I figured that would be all the tennis we would play, but when we finished, Myron said, "How about tomorrow?"

That was the start of a tennis friendship that lasted........

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