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The phone buzzed.
"Ristorante Italiano!" I would quip, "Buongiorno! Vuoi pasta carbonara?"
"City Morgue!" Mike would shoot back, "Any....body, home?"
A witty bon mot, eventually picked up by Larry Bevand:)
And thus we said hi to each other thrice weekly, for almost fifteen years.
Now no more, for last Monday, Michael Norman McArthur, most cherished
of Toronto chess instructors, went to join that great chess game in the sky,
and now rests pain-free in the arms of his beloved Caissa.
He had returned from a Christmas trip abroad with a suppurating pain in his
foot, which spread down his right side. He gamely continued to teach, but I
urged him to seek medical attention. Three weeks ago, I insisted on driving
him to Emergency, so he finally took a cab to Toronto Western, and never
returned. As the pain spread to his abdomen, extensive tests shockingly
revealed the last stages of a terminal illness, and he was moved to the
Kensington Hospice, where he sadly succumbed, just three days later.
Mike was the ultimate chess instructor - gifted, knowledgeable, urbane,
hard-working and charismatic. In over two decades of refined teaching,
he nurtured a current grandmaster, international and FIDE masters, and
innumerable state and provincial champions. Children absolutely loved
him, and he spoilt them rotten, with endless trophies, medals, candy for their
hard work. Parents adored him - many wept at news of his untimely demise.
For us at Chess 'N Math, Mike was an administrator's dream. Insanely
punctual, he delivered and administered classy lessons in an inimitable
style, structured to precision. Personally he was of 2000+ master strength.
Quiet and reserved, he came alive in our friendship, rich with humor. Every
Thusday, he would walk into my office, I would glance up and utter wanly,
"Mike.....I'm hungry!"
"Hello....Hungry!" he would chortle.
Then we would indulge my childhood passion from the U.K., for fish 'n chips,
at Penrose's down the street, where Marilyn knew and served us personally.
When I first met him, he introduced himself to me as "Mean Mike" a sobriquet
bestowed on him by an errant pupil, which delighted him no end as it went viral.
"But" I asked, "What do I, call you?"
"Anything", he quipped, "Just don't call me.....late for dinner!"
Just hilarious.
Mike was a closet non-conformist. He did not approve of The Man, or his designs.
"You're a lawyer," he pointed out, "Help me get rid of my SIN number, I got no sins!"
"Funny!", I said dryly, but Mike insisted - no id's, no SIN, no birth-certificate.
Paradoxically, when I convinced him travel broadens the mind, we had to use all
The Man's tools above to get him a passport. And thus he even found love abroad:)
I will miss not just a friend or employee, but a kindred spirit. Above all he was kind
and guileless - I have no doubt he's taken his place with the righteous, and is even
now playing a simul with his idol Bobby Fischer. Cut short, his was a life well-lived.
Go gentle into that chess night, dear friend, every move of yours was a delight.
Francis Rodrigues, LLB - Regional Director
Strategy Games & The Chess'n Math Association
tel: 416-488-5506; 416-486-3395; 647-232-6014 (cell)
701 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON, M4S 2N4
fax: 416-486-4637; website: www.chess-math.org
"Ristorante Italiano!" I would quip, "Buongiorno! Vuoi pasta carbonara?"
"City Morgue!" Mike would shoot back, "Any....body, home?"
A witty bon mot, eventually picked up by Larry Bevand:)
And thus we said hi to each other thrice weekly, for almost fifteen years.
Now no more, for last Monday, Michael Norman McArthur, most cherished
of Toronto chess instructors, went to join that great chess game in the sky,
and now rests pain-free in the arms of his beloved Caissa.
He had returned from a Christmas trip abroad with a suppurating pain in his
foot, which spread down his right side. He gamely continued to teach, but I
urged him to seek medical attention. Three weeks ago, I insisted on driving
him to Emergency, so he finally took a cab to Toronto Western, and never
returned. As the pain spread to his abdomen, extensive tests shockingly
revealed the last stages of a terminal illness, and he was moved to the
Kensington Hospice, where he sadly succumbed, just three days later.
Mike was the ultimate chess instructor - gifted, knowledgeable, urbane,
hard-working and charismatic. In over two decades of refined teaching,
he nurtured a current grandmaster, international and FIDE masters, and
innumerable state and provincial champions. Children absolutely loved
him, and he spoilt them rotten, with endless trophies, medals, candy for their
hard work. Parents adored him - many wept at news of his untimely demise.
For us at Chess 'N Math, Mike was an administrator's dream. Insanely
punctual, he delivered and administered classy lessons in an inimitable
style, structured to precision. Personally he was of 2000+ master strength.
Quiet and reserved, he came alive in our friendship, rich with humor. Every
Thusday, he would walk into my office, I would glance up and utter wanly,
"Mike.....I'm hungry!"
"Hello....Hungry!" he would chortle.
Then we would indulge my childhood passion from the U.K., for fish 'n chips,
at Penrose's down the street, where Marilyn knew and served us personally.
When I first met him, he introduced himself to me as "Mean Mike" a sobriquet
bestowed on him by an errant pupil, which delighted him no end as it went viral.
"But" I asked, "What do I, call you?"
"Anything", he quipped, "Just don't call me.....late for dinner!"
Just hilarious.
Mike was a closet non-conformist. He did not approve of The Man, or his designs.
"You're a lawyer," he pointed out, "Help me get rid of my SIN number, I got no sins!"
"Funny!", I said dryly, but Mike insisted - no id's, no SIN, no birth-certificate.
Paradoxically, when I convinced him travel broadens the mind, we had to use all
The Man's tools above to get him a passport. And thus he even found love abroad:)
I will miss not just a friend or employee, but a kindred spirit. Above all he was kind
and guileless - I have no doubt he's taken his place with the righteous, and is even
now playing a simul with his idol Bobby Fischer. Cut short, his was a life well-lived.
Go gentle into that chess night, dear friend, every move of yours was a delight.
Francis Rodrigues, LLB - Regional Director
Strategy Games & The Chess'n Math Association
tel: 416-488-5506; 416-486-3395; 647-232-6014 (cell)
701 Mt. Pleasant Road, Toronto, ON, M4S 2N4
fax: 416-486-4637; website: www.chess-math.org
although he is not physically here. Details will be published later.
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