John Ashworth (Past President)
Who better known for his achievements at our club than John Ashworth? But perhaps he’s just as well known for his impeccable table manners and for the contribution he has made to WABC over the years as President (1980-82); to Trumps Plus; in helping less experienced plavers and more recently, with Helen George, as Patron. In 1988 he was honoured with Life Membership.
Born in Malaysia and schooled mainly in England where he learned the rudiments of bridge from his parents, he later studied at UWA where he started to play competitively with lan Baker. Ian's career took him away from WA, but his wife Breffni still plays at our club.
John joined WABC in 1960 when it was known as the West Australian Bridge Association. He must surely now be close to the record of the player with the longest association with club bridge in WA. With long-time partner Dr Phil Firstenberg he started collecting trophies at club, state and interstate level, travelling by train to participate. One has only to look at the club and state honour boards to see his name again and again with Phil, Peter Rogers and more recently Terry Piper and Fiske Warren. He has contributed to club bridge by regularly participating in interclub events and has captained numerous state teams. He is justly proud of having brought the first WA women’s team to victory at an ANC (Australian National Congress) in 1988 and of having played in the first two WA open teams to win the ANC in 1992 and 1993. Adding depth to his resume he represented Australia in Beijing in 1984 and Bermuda in 2000.
Notorious for his slow play over the years. John takes time at the first trick to consider adverse distribution and to recognize odds. His long pauses are usually justified by his fastidious card play and defence and for those who would like to improve their bridge he recommends reading:
S.J. Simon: Why you lose at bridge (1945)
Terence Reese: The Expert game (1947)
Victor Mollo and Nico Gardiner: Card play technique (1955)
Hugh Kelsey: Killing defence at bridge(1967)
(most of the above books and more books by these authors are available in WABC library)
John says ‘Recently bridge has come to be properly recognised as a wonderful recreation for people of all ages. The set of rules and ethics teach the young and their elders to learn a lot about fair play. Senior bridge players believe the game keeps our minds sharper than they otherwise would be'. I'm sure he is right
Apart from bridge the game, John's other vice is bridge collecting. His frequent bridge travels have enabled him to squirrel around in book and opportunity shops to acquire a unique collection of new and antiquarian bridge books, trivia, and ephemera. He now owns probably the second best collection in Australia. John's wife Lorraine would like to move to a bigger house so there's room for her to move around! John married Lorraine in 1959 and they have a son Vernon and daughter Stephanie, now well known for her musical prowess in 'Something for Kate'.
Toby Manford
(Published in March 2009 edition of Trumps Plus)
