A Comic Genius is Gone

My two favorite movies of all time are "Groundhog Day" and "Caddyshack." Harold Ramis directed both. He died yesterday at age 69 at his North Shore home in his native Chicago area.

Caddyshack has a special place in my heart.  I caddied from ages 10 through 18 at Glen View Club in Golf, Illinois, about five miles as the crow flies from Indian Hill Club, where Bill Murray and his brothers contemporaneously caddied.  The Murray brothers and Ramis, who also caddied, wrote the script and improvised many of the scenes.  

The movie is a hilarious classic. If it rings true, that is because it is. Every character, everything that happens in that movie, I witnessed a parallel person or experience during my days at Glen View Club. Even the caddie scholarship is real. It is called an Evans Scholarship. It's named after Chick Evans, an amateur golfer who won the U.S. Open in 1916.  Chick was an honorary member at Glen View Club. I had the pleasure of caddying for him a number of times and the honor of winning the scholarship.

Ramis graduated from Senn High School in Chicago, the same as my mother.

Thank you for the memories.  Rest in peace Harold Ramis.