A Thanksgiving Prayer For My Friend Merlin Dewing

As no doubt for many others who may eventually read this note, one of the most unforgettable lines from one of my absolute favorite movies Brian's Song was when Chicago Bears legendary running back Gayle Sayers said of his best friend and teammate: "I love Brian Piccolo". And then asked all those gathered for a dinner that night at which Sayers received the NFL MVP award "to hit their knees and say a prayer" for his friend who was very ill in hospital.

Well as my wife and life partner (Barbara) Bobbie and I gather today with family and friend for our Thanksgiving, part of us will unashamedly be in a Twin Cities Minnesota hospital with our friend Merlin Dewing. Someone very very very special to us. Of whom it is fair to say that everyone everywhere all around the globe who like us have had their lives graced by his presence and that of his beloved Barbara would say what I am saying here: he is simply the best human being, and the most accomplished and honorable leader and leadership coach of others I have ever known. Compassionate yet tough. Generous and thoughtful and considerate and loyal. Brilliant, athletic, humble yet supremely confident. With an inspirational life story about which books are written and movies made.

We met under unusual circumstances in December 1983 which led to his asking me to work side-by-side with him on a project that to that time had never been successfully accomplished: to find a way to keep a major league sports franchise from moving from one city to another. Said simply and directly: without Merlin Dewing's leadership, the Minnesota Twins would not only have not won two world series since then, and would not be moving into a new stadium next spring, there would in fact be no Minnesota Twins baseball franchise. Yet such an enormous accomplishment speaks only a tad of who he is and everything he's achieved to date.

I could go on and may likely someday. But for today, this Thanksgiving, I just want to offer my eternal personal thanks to Merl for being part of my life, and a world-wide circle of prayer of love and hugs of support for him, Barbie, and the family.