Good stuff today...As a native of Trenton, NJ, I grew up under the influence of Charles "Chappy" Moore, the head football coach at Notre Dame High School...Chappy always told me stories about his friend Jim Murray...Little did I realize that somewhere along the way, Jim would be a mentor and friend to me, and that my life would in some small ways follow a path he originally trailblazed 20 years earlier...So recently, The Trentonian, a once-great metropolitan newspaper that yours truly briefly worked for in the early 1980s, published a profile of Mr. Jim Murray, which I am "incorporating" into this posting...I love Jim Murray as a friend, a mentor, a role model, and a true gentleman...
Please note that the following story is Copyright 2008 The Trentonian and the Journal Register Companies...Here we go...
Posted on Wed, Jun 18, 2008
From Eagles to Mickey D’s, Murray’s made his mark
By L.A. Parker, Staff Writer
HAVRE de GRACE, Md. — Jim Murray’s got stories.
When your resume includes a nine-year stint as general manager of the Eagles, working for team owner Leonard Tose, a trucking magnate, and compulsive gambler who crapped out just several wives shy of Henry VIII, story lines come easy.
Tose allegedly dropped $20 million at Resorts and approximately another $14 million at The Sands.
Murray could tell you all about his lifeline with former Eagles Coach Dick Vermeil, and players like Ron Jaworski, Wilbert Montgomery and Harold Carmichael, but like most people his best tales are about himself, growing up as a kid in West Philadelphia.
“My father,” Jim Murray, Sr., “worked 12 hours a day. We grew up in an era when a strong work ethic came automatically. Back then was nothing like today when kids have so many things in competition for their time.”
Back then, Murray lived in the 800 block of Brooklyn Street where he learned the importance of family, loyalty and honor, ethical staples that would shape his role as father, husband and accomplished employee whether he served as sports administrator for minor league affiliate Tidewater Tides or in his current position as Director of Public Relations for the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.
"I never knew how we all fit in that little house. I thought we were rich beyond words,” Murray said, laughing.
Murray cherished his Irish-Catholic upbringing, learned about life and struggle as altar boy, then entered an adult world brimming with charm and confidence.
“So, there I was parking cars down in Florida one day and I see this girl walking across the lot. I go up to her and tell her, “I’m going to marry you some day,” Murray recalled.
His hot pursuit of the girl named Dianne ended with his predicted marriage to his wife of 46 years.
“It took me five years to close the deal, but here we are. It’s the best proposal I ever made in my life,” Murray said.
Murray’s life is chock full of hand-shaking and successes, usually philanthropic endeavors that help others survive life’s most difficult challenges.
He heads Jim Murray Ltd., a sports promotion and marketing firm but his claim to fame is as co-founder of the first Ronald McDonald House, one of more than 240 residences in 50 countries that provide temporary lodging, at little or no cost, for the families of children undergoing treatment for various illnesses at nearby hospitals.
The McDonald’s LPGA Championship, co-founded by Lawrenceville-resident Frank Quinn and Herb Lotman, has raised more than $46 million in a 27-year run that included stops at White Manor CC, DuPont and currently Bulle Rock CC, Havre de Grace, Md.
Tournament officials recently announced that the LPGA will take over the tournament after next year.
Murray said he is uncertain what the consequences of that decision will mean for his future with the LPGA event.
“All things change or come to an end” Murray reasoned. “I’ve been with this tournament since it was a baby. This is just like seeing your kids get through school and graduate. There is so much good that has come of this tournament. At least we will have one more year to host one final event.”
Murray understands change and an alteration of plans, situations that helped produce the title for a book he plans to write — “Life Is An Audible.”
Murray could fill those pages with stories about local children or a 7-month-old girl named Isabella from Guadalajara who, after seven heart surgeries, looks ready for a fulfilling life.
Murray will tell you stories about other children who fight with honor and smiles but lose their battles with cancer, heart disease and other life-threatening conditions.
While sports and winning remain a premium in Philadelphia, Murray said even the worst of times like January, 1981 against Oakland Raiders provide an uplift of spirt.
"The power of sports is something that you can’t put a price on and can’t measure. Some of the greatest moments in sports come after losing,” Murray said.
"Philly had Coach Vermeil and a team that expended every ounce of energy in Super Bowl XV. They lost but to see them holding hands after a game and reciting a prayer, and yes, even crying, you understand that just maybe, winning is not the most important thing in sports.”
Murray called life’s experiences “greatest.”
“Especially after you have traveled around this country and understand how we are all connected. If you live long enough you understand life’s cycle and circle, realize what part you play in all of this.”
“Me, I try not to take myself too seriously. I wear my heart on my sleeve. But I don’t take that as a sign of weakness. There is a line that I frequently use that states there is nothing so strong as gentleness and nothing so gentle as real strength.”
Murray, finally stopped, but there were hundreds of chapters regarding his life that could fill volumes.
“You know St. John said that the truth shall set you free. And Jack Nicholson’s great movie line is that ‘You can’t handle the truth.’ Life is somewhere between St. John and Jack,” said Murray.
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