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I grew up in an age when cancer was a uniformly fatal disease.
Thirty, thirty-three years ago, we knew nothing about cancer biology and cancer molecular
biology. We knew nothing.
Fast forward to the year 2013, it's a totally different game now.
On the shoulders of the Block family and the lectureship and the tournament and all that
they've done for us - the millions of dollars that they've raised - it's truly remarkable.
Our home, our house was kind of "the hangout" and my parents were a big part of that. They
loved having everybody over. With five of us in the house, it didn't matter if there
were five more 'cause it was all the same.
My dad had a nickname for every single friend we had.
Loved his family, loved his kids. I felt it - I think everybody felt it.
And you couldn't have asked for better parents - ever.
He was so young. They tried everything.
He played a lot of golf in the evenings with my mother and they used to go out to the club.
It was really more about, ya know, just spending time to reflect and think about him.
I think, unknowingly to all of us, that became a force in helping us to channel our grief
- hoping that other families would be spared.
One of the first planning meetings took place over Maxine's house.
I really remember sitting around Mrs. Block's living room and eating tuna fish sandwiches
and she's always have like these bowls of M&Ms, so it was really like this sense of
family and really grounded in their love of family - the loss at the time of Mr. Block.
Everybody was there because they loved my father, and to show their respect for him.
We used to do everything - everything. We did all the mailing.
Siblings, as you can imagine, there was strong opinions flying constantly.
Siblings - they're very detail-oriented.
Each and every one of those details were almost painstakingly thought and rethought and passionately
discussed.
Everything from the cocktail napkins to the shirt collars to name tags.
Boomboxes on the back of the carts.
We've spent hours picking out the color of the volunteer shirt.
Our personalities would really come out.
I mean, literally, we wouldn't talk for three days afterwards.
I mean, these conversations could go on for awhile and finally like, Maxine would just
maybe stand up and say, "This is ridiculous, like, go with corned beef!"
Early on, we really made no money.
A couple years, my mother wrote checks to the hospital because there was no money.
What makes it work is persistence because you're not going to start off with a million
bucks.
We got big enough that we moved into the den, and then we got big enough that we moved into
their living room.
Ya know, word got out. People wanted to participate; people wanted to be involved.
But what really brought us into greater earning power was when we did team up with The James.
This family wants to make a bigger difference, so how can we help?
I think he saw passion in us.
Certainly Maxine's contribution to what this tournament is has been enormous.
And she was very, very caring. Coming into her home, there was a real sense of nurturing.
My mother hadn't been feeling well for awhile, but no one ever, ever though that she had
cancer.
That's a moment I'll never forget. Umm, Jerry, Julie Block, and myself sitting in my office
and they were awaiting a call back from Mrs. Block's doctor to give them the feedback about
why she was ill and what was going on.
It just seemed surreal that we were now taking her there to the place that we work in. She
lived there for the last month of her life. So we were, again, on the other side.
That was a hard tournament to do, but ultimately, this tournament is about the heart, and what
I saw that day was the heart of this family willing to be heartbroken in the presence
of a community, and continue to ask people to join them in this fight.
I think that just further cemented in our minds what we needed to do.
We were all the more committed. You couldn't not be.
I think it started out as a fun thing, and then we got very, very serious.
We wanted to take a huge step forward, to take a risk.
Dave Schuler, he suggested that we start a lectureship and we bring in an internationally
renowned doctor, nurse, research scientist, who could lecture at the hospital.
It became the Herbert and Maxine Block Lectureship Award.
The who's who of cancer research, the people that have been leading their programs around
the country, around the world. This is a several day visit, and during this time, this outstanding
scientist meets with our researchers, meets with our faculty.
That, in turn, gets those international stars excited about what we're doing and that brings
recruits here, and that's not fluff. That translates into patients getting meaningful
therapies. That translates into incredible scientific discoveries, and I think that was
built, in large part, on the shoulders of the Block Lectureship.
It was connecting a lot of doctors and residents and the whole academic area together, and
we could start to see things really happening.
To this day, the lecture by Judah Folkman, I will never forget.
The insight that he had that attacking blood vessels might attack tumors, and of course
he was exactly right, and now we have successful treatments for colon cancer, some lung cancers,
brain tumors.
Levi Garraway was last year's recipient, and he's researching gene sequencing.
That means that each person with cancer is different. That's why The James model of having
specialists who are specialists in one type of cancer is the way to attack the problem.
Some of our lecturers that have come have ended up staying or helping recruit great
people to The James.
The recruitment of Albert and Clara, the recruitment of Dr. Caligiuri, and then came the recruitment
of Dr. Croce.
The breakthrough discovery - the one that changed our ideas - came from high-risk discovery,
and high-risk discovery today is essentially financed by gift.
So we have to look for other ways to fund our research. Philanthropy is extremely important.
I mean, we wouldn't have a tournament if it weren't for the people that support us.
In particular, Macy and his wife Shirley and their family have been wonderful supporters
of the tournament.
There's probably 40 to 50 people that have played probably at least 10 to 15 years.
Rocky Geichman, for heaven sakes, he's been there for 30 years. He's never missed a tournament.
Our tournament could not happen without our great sponsors.
It's truly and honor to be able to sponsor - at any level - this tournament.
People that have been touched by cancer that maybe can't play and want to support and want
to be there.
Sue Haggerty, who was very inspirational in our lives.
An amazing human being embraced our tournament.
This event was Sue's baby.
The volunteers are such a huge part of the tournament, and I think what makes us different.
Our role is as important as the researchers. Our role to raise money and to raise awareness
is as important as anyone else's and that's the only way that we're going to make strides
and win this fight.
The early days were definitely driving the beverage cart - sometimes into a creek.
Golf carts that went over a cliff or in a pond.
The 2012 tournament, the highlight of the tournament was the closest to the pin contest
on hole number 16 at the Muirfield Village Golf Club, and a certain notable person won
that - a very skilled golfer, intelligent, athletic, good-looking. That would be me.
When I think about having fun at the golf tournament, I just think about Jeff.
One day, I was watching the Master's on a Sunday and I was watching them give the green
jackets, and the light bulb went off.
The jacket's always fun. That's always a good moment in our committee meetings when Jeff
comes in and tells his story of where he traveled to and what color jacket he decided to go
with this year.
We just came back from Savannah picking out those jackets and...
And they're never that attractive.
A color you would never want to wear.
A full-on canary suit and the winners that year were very gracious and willing to put
on the whole suit.
I just happen to have one of these jackets. This is something that Dave Schuler doesn't
have. Dave may have a closest to the pin, and he likes to talk about that, but until
he gets a jacket...
Unfortunately, I don't play golf. I never play golf. I never touch a ball of golf.
I mean, Bill Farrar is an amazing golfer and I'm amazed at how bad Dave Schuler is.
I am an outstanding golfer. Yes, that's accurate. Please include that in this tape.
When Jeff hovers over the green and is getting ready to drop the balls, I think about how
proud his father would be of him.
The partnership and the strength is real, and it's very motivating.
God willing, in our lifetime, scientists will continue to make progress, and ultimately
find a cure - hopefully for many forms of cancer. I think that's possible. We've certainly
come a long way. It can happen at Ohio State.