Dinner with Mike Gidwitz: A Story about Kindness

[arcadekrazy]

Pretty neat. I’d love to meet him. I’ve purchased a few things from him over the years and he’s always been a perfect gentleman. Certainly one of the “good guys”.

[tedzan]

Mark Macrae introduced me to Mike Gidwitz back in Feb 1993, when Mark and I were set-up at Kit Young's Hawaii BB card Show.

Mike and I had two things in common. Mike graduated from the prestigious Lawrenceville College Prep School. In the 1990's my wife and I
had a 2nd home in Lawrenceville (NJ) adjacent to the School. So for starters, Mike and I shared a lot of very interesting stories of the area.

Hobbywise, Mike and I collect original uncut sheets of Sportscards. Of course, Mike's collection is unbelievable. Mine does not compare with
Mike's. However, I have certain BOWMAN uncut sheets which Mike did not have back then. This topic was a source of "joshing" between us.
Two examples of such BOWMAN sheets are shown here.

It's been quite a while since Mike and I have had contact with each other. The last time was when he had an opportunity to acquire the BB
card sheet shown here. And, he asked me what I paid for mine. Well, I told him I traded a 1951 BOWMAN Mantle rookie for my sheet, but
that was back in 1982. We both had a good laugh over that, and that's the last time we spoke.


The greatest truth of this hobby are the fellow collectors you meet and the lasting friendships which result there of. Mike is certainly one of
the guys who is on the top of my best friends list.


1949 BOWMAN (4th series)




1st series....LARGE version




TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[marzoumanian]

Wow, thanks for sharing. Great stories.
Why did I tell my tale when I did? Now more than ever we need to show kindness to each other. We need to "Be Like Mike." Let's be honest. Mike didn't need to meet me. He was doing his friend "Pete" a favor. Mike is a gentleman in the true sense of the word. That evening we talked books ("For Whom the Bell Tolls" is his favorite), restaurants, his family, and other collecting stories.
You are right. The hobby is all about the people you meet. It was a thrill to meet Mike.
Peace and stay healthy.

[oaks1912]

Mark,...Its nice to read that you had a great visit with Mike Gidwitz. He & I have shared a number of meals, conversations and visits over the years. Although he is no longer active in the sports hobby, we still communicate regularly, on a variety of subjects. I still have the custom t-shirts that he designed and sent me. Its unfortunate that Mike was victimized by numerous individuals over the years, and surprising that he still carries a very positive attitude towards life and others. I'm not sure how many others that have walked in his shoes could display the same attitude.

[marzoumanian]

Amen, Mark, Amen. Very well said. Thanks for saying it.
Peace, and again, I say to all reading this, small acts of kindness each day do matter, now more so than ever.

[rjackson44]

With all the sadness lately ,,terrific story.

[Hankphenom]

Love this story. I've long thought that kindness is the most underrated human virtue of them all, in fact all the others flow from it.