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Mike Lawrence
Sixty-three years old. I started playing bridge while studying at the University of California.
Bridge and my studies competed for my attention and bridge won out.
In 1968, joined the Dallas Aces.
This was Ira Corn's dream, to captain a team that would win back the world championship for the US.
Our team succeeded in this, winning back to back championships in Stockholm and in Taiwan.
One day Ira called me into his office and annouced that all the members of our team would write five practice newspaper columns.
A few weeks later Ira had me in his office again, this time to tell me that instead of writing newspaper columns, I would write a book.
This was news to me since I had never written anything longer than a term paper when in college and that had been a pretty dim effort.
But, as Ira said, he had the check book. That is how I started writing.
Six weeks later Ira called me into his office and told me that I was going to be a teacher.
He handed me a list of sixteen names of local players that wanted me to teach them.
Between their patience and my slow learning curve as a teacher, we finished the series.
This was how I learned to teach.
From this beginning books started to appear and now there are twenty of them along with writing projects with the ACBL Bulletin, Bridge Today.
Add to this an ongoing relationship with Bridge Clues.
Other efforts include development of bridge software with Fred Gitelman.
Among the products we developed are:
Counting at Bridge
Private Bridge Lessons, Volume One
Private Bridge Lessons, Volume Two
Defense
The Two Over One System
Conventions
Counting at Bridge - At the Table with Mike
Most recent publications include Double, a New Meaning for an Old Bid and I Fought The Law, due out in a few months.
Teaching has become a major event in recent years. Aside from teaching in almost all of the fifty states, there have been many trips overseas. A partial list of countries include:
MEXICO
CANADA, HALF A DOZEN LOCATIONS
CZECHOCLOVAKIA
SAUDI ARABIA
SOUTH AFRICA
WALES
IRELAND
SCOTLAND
ENGLAND
JAPAN
HONG KONG
SWAZILAND
EGYPT
TANZANIA
KENYA
FRANCE
GERMANY
TAIWAN
WINS AND PLACES
THREE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
THREE RUNNER UPS IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
WINNER 20 NATIONAL EVENTS
300 REGIONAL WINS
21,000 PLUS MASTERPOINTS
Numerous cruises, notably in the Carrebean, Western Mexico, and the Amazon river.
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