Follow up note from Bill King memorial at Rickey's

by batgirl on Jan 5, 2006 11:31 AM PST

Following the Bill King memorial at Rickey's I mailed a letter to the King family including our two condolence cards, mrod's poem, and a brief description of the event and the "HOLY TOLEDO" banners we made. Yesterday in the mail I received a very nice note from Kathleen Lowenthal, Bill King's stepdaughter. Since it is meant to be for the whole group of us, I thought I'd transcribe it here.

The front of the card says: "The family of Bill King acknowledges with grateful appreciation your kind expression of sympathy"

The interior reads:

12-29-05
Dear Jenny,
Thank you so very much for your lovely condolence note and please extend our appreciation to all the others who included cards and kind words with your letter - and especially to Martin Vincent Rodriguez for his wonderful poetic tribute to Bill. Bill always knew he had the world's greatest and smartest audience. His fans meant a lot to him. And your kind words mean a lot to me and my family.

Best Wishes to all of you,

Kathleen Lowenthal

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Comments

that's great!

Viva Bill King!

by brothersky on Jan 5, 2006 12:06 PM PST reply actions

Thanks for doing that and sharing this reply

It was a special event, wasn't it?

"sometimes I can't tell the difference between baseball and magic..." SALB918

by LongTimeFan on Jan 5, 2006 12:13 PM PST reply actions

That is awesome:

What a community...

Duke has gathered the materials and is transcribing the banner's content as we speak.

For those of you who have seen his work I can definitely tell you it will be something special and definitely lasting.

That was really sweet for her to mention mrod.

Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste." -Tug McGraw

by saint @ Athletics Nation on Jan 5, 2006 1:35 PM PST reply actions

Funny

Kathleen Lowenthal is one of my friend's mom. So lucky that my friend got to become bill kings grandson in law!

by SwisherSweet on Jan 5, 2006 2:05 PM PST reply actions

Ok that made me cry

Why don't they just lick their fingers? -- http://oaklandprospects.blogspot.com/

by novaoakland on Jan 5, 2006 2:27 PM PST reply actions

Has the mrod poem appeared on AN?

If so, could someone link it? If not, might it be posted?

Many thanks to all of you who put effort into conveying the appreciation to Bill's family which so many of us feel. I'm looking forward to a sea of King tee shirts on opening day.

Costly Seat Downgrade

by FreeSeatUpgrade on Jan 5, 2006 3:01 PM PST reply actions

here it is...

http://www.athleticsnation.com/story/2005/10/19/142416/62

"Don't go getting all Alexander Haig on me," Beane told Forst.

by Poppy on Jan 5, 2006 3:33 PM PST up reply actions

I am so glad

That you let us know what was said. Thank You Batgirl.

by IM4Oakgal on Jan 5, 2006 4:28 PM PST reply actions

Bill King....

It was truly my pleasure to write that poem for you, sir. Wow, that was really cool that Ms. Lowenthal took the time to write that letter and thank you batgirl for sharing that with everyone. Can't wait to get together with the nation again soon. Happy new year everyone! -mrod
Martin Vincent Rodriguez

by mrod on Jan 5, 2006 4:54 PM PST reply actions

hell of a poem mrod

cheers to you and Bill both

Joe Blanton is phat

by gojohn10 on Jan 5, 2006 5:50 PM PST up reply actions

good job mrod

they'll never know how much we loved him, but your poem puts it about as well as it could be put. It has a real unpretentious quality to it; I imagine the family appreciated it A LOT.

by Brian in 317 on Jan 6, 2006 6:51 AM PST up reply actions