Some sad news and some good news: One of our classmates, John Gruberg, had a stroke in August 2019. The good news: John has made a miraculous recovery! Below is a video meeting with John, his wife Meijing and some ECHS classmates, including a few of his ECHS tennis teammates.

Conversation with John and Meijing Gruberg, July 11, 2020

John wrote a book about his tennis career, Tennis Hobo: A Derailed Memoir, including his adventures riding the rails to tournaments, and his life in Berkeley as a tennis pro. Available at booksellers.

Tennis scene from Mr Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
Meijing Gruberg has mastered Mr Hulot’s service wind-up.

Bridge or Ping Pong scene from Mr Hulot’s Holiday (1953)
John and Meijing practice air ping pong, sometimes to piano accompaniment.

Mr Hulot’s Holiday is a black & white French film that has a musical soundtrack and some French mutterings, but is essentially a silent movie. On his summer holiday Mr Hulot tries tennis, horseback riding, boating and more all with hilarious results. It’s a favorite film of Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, and Francis Ford Coppola.