To the Editor:
We need to read about what is good and kind about South Jersey residents rather than what is negative.
I write this to laud an Avalon icon (at least to me). His name is William J. “Bill” Leahy. Far too often we write and say fond and wonderful words about someone when they pass on to the next world. As Ms. Tanya Tucker sings in her song, “Bring my flowers now, while I’m living.” I believe the same is true for memories, the person who passes on has no idea of how they are and will be remembered.
I first met Coach Bill in 1971 when I joined the seventh and eighth grade basketball team named the Avalon Gems. I was not a particularly good basketball player then and I never improved over the years.
Coach played me even though I was the 12th person on a 12-member team. There was probably a league rule that said all team members had to play, but Coach played all of us no matter how tight the game was or wasn’t. He made me feel like a first team all-star player.
I believe the efforts by him and other related actions he initiated over the years helped shape the person I have become. When I saw him around Avalon and at Wildwood Catholic after my Gems career he would always have a kind word and ask how I was doing.
I felt that I was important. My basketball career ended as quickly as it started, but Bill Leahy’s positive legacy and energy remains with me today. Thanks, Coach.
I wanted to write a positive and upbeat letter about someone in the community who has given/volunteered to make South Jersey a better place. There is too much negativity in the U.S.A. today.
Paul Saunders
Mount Airy, Maryland
Editor’s note: The writer is a former longtime Avalon resident who maintains ties to Cape May County.
