To the editor:
A shrill whistle would cut through the summer morning silence. You know the kind. A special signal, loud in a tune for a couple of seconds, made with your tounge against your upper teeth, firm cheeks and jaw, and a blast of air. Momentarily, a return whistle would come from a city block away, and two youngsters would unite for another play day in the wilderness of Olmstead's pond, Harry Mitchell's farm pasture, or the big meadow that now holds Allen Fieldhouse and Robinson Gym.
I don't remember friends before Doyle Schick. He was always a whistle away, and he taught me all those boyhood skills and games including football, basketball and baseball, and we always spent Saturdays at the 25-cent movie matinee downtown at the Varsity, Jayhawk or Granada theaters. It never mattered to him that he was bigger, stronger, faster, or more skilled than I was. We were friends. Doyle was a grade behind me in school and half a year younger. He had two older brothers who made sure we made the right choices, and didn't let us whine about anything.
We went through the Lawrence school system and on through KU. We each had our chosen sports. Doyle chose and excelled at everything. At LHS he was an All-American fullback, a javelin thrower, owned the hardwood courts and was a stellar baseball player. He was one of "Dad" Perry's boys in gymnastics, and could tumble and swing horizontal bar like the competitors. He was talented enough to do all these things in college, but after his freshman year, time would only allow for football and baseball.
Doyle played pro football with the Redskins, but had trouble with an ulcer problem, one that bothered him toward the end of his college career. He cut his pro career short and devoted the rest of his days to his lovely family and his many friends. He never forgot his Lawrence and KU connections. He was proud to be a "Chesty Lion" from Lawrence High School, and he was always there for any of us. You LHS grads know what I mean. I'm saddened by the premature loss of this great, but modest LHS/KU athlete, and like many of you, I will miss my childhood buddy. Somehow I feel that he's just a "whistle" away.
Bob Lockwood,
Lawrence
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