[fred]

officeglen, on Jan 20 2006, 02:04 PM, said:

I'm very sad to report that Mark Molson, member of the Canuck 95 team, passed away suddenly yesterday.

This is indeed very tragic.

Mark was in his mid 50s and, by all appearances, he was in excellent health. A couple of days ago he collapsed on a golf course in Florida (Mark was an outstanding golfer). He was taken to a hospital and it was found that he needed immediate heart surgery. He did not survive this procedure.

Mark settled down late in life and married Janice Seamon, one of America's leading players. They loved each other very much and had a beautiful little girl together. They were one happy family.

I had been a close friend of Mark's for many years. We had a lot of good times together. We were also teammates (and occasionally partners) on Canada's team during some of the most memorable moments in my bridge career. I learned a lot about bridge from Mark - not so much about the technical aspects of the game, but about something more important: Mark helped to teach me how to win.

You see, Mark was what I would call a great competitor. He never gave up and always brought his best game to the table. He was a real fighter, but at the same time he was charismatic and charming - everybody liked Mark. Mark was also a well-rounded person. Despite being a true world class player and a great champion, bridge was not his entire life. All of these qualities are unfortunately rare for bridge players, even for those at the highest levels.

The bridge world is in shock right now due to this tragic loss. I am currently at a tournament along with several of Mark's many friends. We are all deeply saddened by Mark's sudden passing.

He will be greatly missed.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[Echognome]

Am sorry to hear about our loss to bridge. I have never met Mark Molson, but I have certainly read about him in books and articles. We are losing a fine player indeed.

I also give my condolences to Fred and others who have lost a dear friend.

[Al_U_Card]

What a loss. I played against Markland on occasion some years ago (he was Dr. Jekyll to his then partner's MR. Hyde....) and was amazed by his demeanor and personality. I have only fond memories of him.

[glen]

I was playing in an Ottawa sectional in the early/mid 80s – Mark and Boris would play any tournament anywhere near them, so they had come down from Montreal for the weekend, and were at the very next table in the Open Pairs. They finished two boards and passed them to us, and then when we had completed the same two boards, Mark rushed over and started to talk to me at a mile-a-minute (km-a-minute in Canada) about the super complex endplay and squeeze that he had found on the hand. At that point I knew:

- Mark was willing to talk to anybody about the game, even young want-to-bees;
- Mark was highly skilled, and even back then saw things in the cards that most others could not see;
- Mark was super passionate about the game.

He never lost any of this. He’ll be sadly missed by all of us.

[Walddk]

The organisers of the event think that it would be inappropriate to have this broadcast shortly after Mark Molson passed away, so it will be rescheduled for later. Exactly when it will go ahead we don't know at this point, but we will keep you posted.

Roland