Story of man behind the Gay Games

She was not quite 4 when her daddy died.

Deep in the recesses of her memory, Jessica Waddell Lewinstein, now 30, can still hear his voice. It was a voice that held contrasts: deep but soft, considered but sprinkled with mischief, nuanced with sadness and lilting with joy.

Tom Waddell was a star athlete at Springfield College. Courtesy Springfield College Archives

She remembers only snippets of conversations. Like the time he sought her advice on the best color for a car he hoped to buy.

"I suggested pink," Jessica says, with a laugh. "And he suggested I maybe have another suggestion."

Or the way he patiently worked with her on her pronunciation. When she went to visit him, she talked about the "hop-ital," as if it were a palace for bunnies. Tom Waddell would smile and say, "Darling, it's 'hoss-pital."

Read more ...