June 11th 1977

I have never flown on an airplane, never been to the east coat, never been anywhere. The world is a lot bigger than I thought and it's all very cool, but I lost my luggage. I had a great flight meeting a cute girl by the name of Pam on the flight from Lincoln, Nebraska and when we parted in Washington, D.C. she gave me a kiss on the cheek and wished me luck. I really like this flying thing!

Mr. Brennan met me in Haggerstown, he is a bit taller than me, in his 60's, big horn rimmed glasses and a booming voice with a New Jersey accent. We talked tennis all the way to Mercersburg the guy impressed me. We talked a lot about Billie Jean King and he told me how they met, and how he was drawn to her because of her competitive fire and how the family adopted her. He said as a coach you can only give so much to a player and then they have to take that information and apply it, he said with he knew right off she was a 'one in a million talent' and that you can't coach speed or god given talent, but 'you can tell them to hit their approach shots down the line.' He said modestly that it was all her, he just showed her a few things. We arrived at the Academy around sundown, the ivy covered buildings and the clay courts gives the the place a graceful ambiance.

Mr. B asked about me, I told him that I was the first of my family to go to college, that my Dad is a union pipefitter and my Mom works in a bakery, that I had always dreamed of playing tennis as a kid but we didnt have courts on the farm where we lived. In 8th grade Garth Kegel gave me his mom's old Elsworth Vines Wilson racquet and I learned by hitting against the wall. By my sophomore year I had made the Pocatello High Tennis Team. A year after high school I met former counselor Charlie Fenske and he asked if I wanted to walk on at Idaho State. I made the team and Charlie set me up.

It's a long way from ISU's Reed Gym Courts to here. Everything is green and old. I walked down to the courts, they're green Hard-tru the same surface as the U.S. Open. I have never played on clay. I found some linen and met a tall sandy haired guy by the name of Mark Sanderson, he is a counselor too and we decided to room together, he's from Plymouth College in New Hampshire. We got settled in and headed for bed. I have been up since 6-am its 11:30 now...