LARRY PARR (1946 - 2011)

Lawrence Arthur Collard Parr, USCF Chief Editor from 1984 to 1988 passed away earlier this morning at 6:52am after a short illness. His passing came as a shock as he was recuperating from his illness and according to Hamid, although there were frequent visits to the hospital, he was looking well to recovery. Earlier this morning, Larry's condition suddenly deteriorated and the doctors failed to revive him.

Larry is no stranger to the local chess scene having been in Malaysia since the late 90's. Many people may not know that Malaysia is not a strange land for Larry as he was stationed here before in the mid 70's.

When I was playing chess in the states during the mid 80's, Larry was the USCF Chief Editor then and when Hamid invited me to meet Larry Parr at a local "mamak" shop in 2002, I was elated! Finally, I had the chance to meet THE Larry Parr.

The second encounter was in 2007 when Collin invited me to play for his team in the ASTRO Merdeka Team event and Larry, who claimed he has not played any "serious" chess for almost 20 years, decided to come out of "retirement" to play for the team. There I was side by side with Larry, and Collin, Carl Haessler and Woo Beng Keong, and our team did rather well finishing as one of the prize winners.

The third encounter was a longer one and a closer one as Larry, Hamid and I shared DATCC as our joined office since late 2009. Larry, a true American boy, will tell endless stories about his younger life in the US, all the great chess players that he had interviewed, all the worked that he had done, the old classical music that he liked, the songs, the old reruns, the old movies. His favorite fast food joint is Wendy's and Papa John's Pizza in nearby Maju Junction.

Larry's ashes will be flown back to his hometown in Seattle, Washington accompanied by his wife and daughter Christiana and Ian.

RIP Larry.....

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