Jack Twyman: A Life Worth Remembering

The friendship that Jack Twyman formed with Maurice Stokes
 is a model that we can all learn from.

Jack Twyman died at the age of 78 on March 30, 2012

This extraordinary man is not acclaimed because of his talents in basketball during the early years of the game, but for his dedication and love he showed for his teammate. Twyman ignored the ugly racial times that were the 1950s and 1960s to give perhaps the greatest assist in NBA history. He stood up when many wouldn't He became the legal guardian and the best of friends to Maurice Stokes when his stricken African-American teammate needed him most. Maurice Stokes was stricken with a debilitating brain injury and Twyman decided to help him and essentially watched over him for the last 12 years of Stokes life. This is definition of going out of one's way to help another. He is a hero and his story should be passed on.

O Captain! My Captain!

Written in 1865 after President Lincoln's assassination

O Captain! My Captain!

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.


O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up--for you the flag is flung--for you the bugle trills; 10
For you bouquets and ribbon'd wreaths--for you the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You've fallen cold and dead.


My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;
The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;
From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won; 20
Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!
But I, with mournful tread,
Walk the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead. 

Walt Whitman

There are a lot of metaphors scattered around this poem. Captain is referring to Abraham Lincoln, the United States of America is represented by the ship and its fearful trip recollects the trouble of the Civil War.

Another famous saying that came out of his death was, "Now he belongs to the ages." (Though a historian said it might have been misheard. The person might have meant to say "now he belongs to the angels," which is not as powerful of a saying.)

Lincoln- America's 16th President

However, no matter how many famous sayings or poems came out, we would much rather have Lincoln live and lead our nation to more great endeavors. He would have helped the United States prosper and there is no doubt in my mind that he would have continued to extraordinary things, not only as a president, but as a human being. It was a truly a very solemn tragedy when one of the greatest presidents in U.S history was assassinated.