My father loved a great many things—marching bands, Spike Jones, M*A*S*H re-runs, old Southern gospel music, certainly his family—and high on the list was Torch Club. Being as fond as he was of engaging discussion on serious topics with well-informed people, he and Torch were made for each other.

     He joined the Des Moines club in the late 1970s and was hooked right away. Fairly soon afterwards he got my mother to join (and back in those days, a few Torch Clubs were still all-male). When, in 1986, he learned that I was moving to Lincoln, Nebraska, nearly the first thing he said was, “They have a great Torch Club there.” He made some calls, I was invited to a meeting that fall, and the next thing I knew I too was hooked, enrolled by none other than Tom Carroll himself—with an assist from Dad.

    Dad was tapped for the Board of Directors in the early 1980s; he was still in his fifties, so his joke was that he was part of a "youth movement." He served as President of IATC from 1984 to 1986, during the tricky time of transition to using professional club management services. It was mainly his idea to hold a Torch Convention in Des Moines—a risky proposition, given how far most Torch members had to travel, but the Des Moines club pulled it off. Build it and they will come…Dad loved Field of Dreams, too.

    I often meet people who think Dad edited The Torch for a while, seeing as he was a career journalist. Actually, he did not, but he was nonetheless a presence in the magazine, not only because of his long-running “P.S.” column, but also because he oversaw the formation of the very first Editorial Advisory Committee.

    I too love Torch Club, and I have one more reason than Dad did—it’s a living connection to the man who raised me.