Watching the World Series I thought of my grandpa Jack, who sat me at his side when I was young and taught me the intricacies of baseball.

Jack Fellers was born in 1896 and lived to be 101. I always enjoyed talking to him about growing up in New York City. He told me about a winter so cold that he was able to walk across the Hudson River to New Jersey. When I asked him about his first baseball game he talked about seeing the New York Giants play a game at Coogan’s Bluff around 1910. Incredibly, he was able to recite the entire line-up.

About 10 years after his death my father gave me a large envelope. It contained 63 pages of family history. Written by Jack at the age of 93, it was done in meticulous Palmer penmanship. He talked about  getting gas lamps in his apartment and how it changed his family’s life. He recounted going to Madison Square Garden and watching six day bicycle races. And he talked about Johnny Hayes, an American who won the Marathon in the 1908 Olympics. Hayes managed the sporting goods department at Bloomingdale’s and improbably trained on the roof of the store. His win kicked off a running craze with Jack and his buddies emulating Hayes, running through the streets of New York.

His long term recall was phenomenal and his attention to detail allowed him to paint vivid pictures of the early 1900’s. Jack saw the demise of the horse and buggy, fought in one World War and lived through another, and watched a man walk on the moon. Reading his history allowed me to understand how the 20th century both informed and shaped my family.

Wherever you are Jack, thanks for the memories.