Lorin Maurer, George Sella, And The Randomness And Unfairness Of Life

TigerBlog would like to talk to you today about George Sella, Lorin Maurer and the somewhat random, positively unfair, nature of life sometimes

George Sella was one of Princeton's great athletes in the years after World War II. A wingback on the football team and a starter on the basketball team, Sella won the 1950 Roper Trophy as Princeton's top senior athlete.

Lorin Maurer, too, was a standout college athlete, both as a swimmer and academically, where she earned multiple Academic All-American honors. 

George Sella passed away this week. Lorin Maurer died 13 years ago tomorrow. 

George Sella was 93. Lorin Mauer was 30.

Why? TigerBlog can't begin to understand. 

First, this is what Sella's classmate Kenneth Perry had to say about him:

George was undoubtedly one of our best Tiger athletes. Captain of our 1949 football team, All-American mention, and three-year  basketball starter whose leaping ability belied his 5-10 height. As you know, in George's day, freshmen were not eli gible for varsity sports. Through the first 100 years of Princeton football, he and Frank McPhee shared the record for the most touchdown pass receptions (8), a few of which Kazmaier threw in his first year. The all-time teams compiled some years ago apparently had no reservation
in recognizing him. During his three varsity years, Princeton won all its Harvard/Yale games.

Like me, George was a chemical engineer. He was a fierce competitor. I remember before classes the Monday, after our 14-12 loss to heavily-favored Cornell in Ithaca, I thought I would console George by saying that it was “a moral victory”. He snapped back, “They don’t write 'moral victory' after the score in the record books." Incidentally, that Cornell loss preceded the next 24 wins.

As for basketball, George was undoubtedly the team's mainstay and usually played the entire game as “Cappy” Cappon didn’t believe in giving the starting five a rest. Cappon ran a “weave” which inevitably led to George driving to the basket for a lay-up. Defensive-wise, I remember watching George guard Yale’s gunner, Tony Lavelli.  Held him to a few points. (Lavelli used to play his accordion at halftime.) I believe George was first team All-East his senior year. 

George passed up a Chicago Bear opportunity to go to Harvard Business School and eventually became CEO of American Cyanamid.

Sella lived to be the age of the uniform number he wore in football: 93. He was granted more than three times as long on this planet at Lorin was.

Lorin was the Friends Group manager at Princeton when she passed away. She was a fundraiser, but so much more than that. She had an incredible work ethic, taking on whatever task needed to be completed. More than once TB saw her setting up tables and chairs or putting tablecloths on them. Why? Because it needed to be done.

She was also a super nice, super upbeat person. She always seemed to be smiling. She was smiling the last time TB ever saw her. He'll never forget that.

Each year since her passing, TigerBlog has told the story of the last time her saw her. At the time TB's office was up on the Jadwin mezzanine, and he always left his door open. Some people would stop in and say hi. Most would just walk by.

Lorin would always stop. Sometimes, when she didn't have time to say anything, she'd just stop and smile. And that's what happened on that day 13 years ago.

There was a meeting that was running late, and Lorin had to get to the airport to catch a flight to Buffalo. There was a wedding in her boyfriend's family that she was going to attend. She'd be meeting him there.

She'd found love in the months before. She was really happy. 

Tragically, her plane crashed just before reaching the Buffalo airport. TigerBlog didn't know this until the next morning, when he woke up to an email with the news. It's almost as shocking now as it was then.

It was just so unbelievable, so impossible to wrap your head around. She'd just been there, so alive. And then she was gone. 

As TB said, George Sella got more than three times as many years as Lorin Maurer did. Even 13 years later, it still doesn't seem real that she's gone.

There are fewer and fewer people who work here each year who knew Lorin. The ones who did know her remember her for the warm, wonderful, loving person that she was. 

To them, her memory is still alive. TB can still see her smile. He's sure everyone else who knew her can as well.

It doesn't make it any fairer of course. Or any easier to understand.