Swedlow Central

The Great Gerry Swedlow

My father was definitely a “Great” person. He walked into a room and his personality was very palpable like a Khan, a King, a Caesar, or a Great Man. He didn’t dominate out of a need to overpower people, however. He dominated because he had gravitas, was witty, intelligent, trustworthy, and able to make complicated decisions quickly. He never said more than was necessary. He was a leader like Frank Sinatra, but not a scary Frank Sinatra. He was also known for making complex calculations in his head (e.g. golfing scores) among many other things.  In fact, his golfing (“Golf Guys”) and poker buddies called him their “Czar.”

Here he is at our conference, The TV of Tomorrow Show http://tvotshow.com, in 2014.  I was thrilled he was there. He also spent time with Hannah taking her on a handsome cab ride in the park like he took me when I was 17.

FASHION: He always wore Brooks Brothers trench coats, button-down shirts, ties, good traditional brown or black tie-up leather shoes, and hats. On the weekends, he wore golf shirts and pants or his lounging robe in the house. He was always clean and immaculately groomed! He did occasionally wear saddle shoes, funny ties and special themed t-shirts that his daughters or grandkids bought for him.

RADIATION: When he was sick with cancer, however, his ability to do all these things declined, but he still put on a jacket, tie etc. to go to work up right until the end. The radiation really made his neck red and sore and made it excruciatingly painful to try and sleep. It also was hard to shave so patches of his skin had bare hair tufts sticking out. He really bore all these indignities with great courage, strength and a sense of humor most of the time unless the pain was too much to bear and I hear he did moan in bed a little because his skin was so sore.

He really dealt with all the pain and aggravation of 2 major surgeries (lung being removed and a tumor removed in his brain and many radiation treatments multiple times per day and almost every day for weeks) with GREAT COURAGE and a sense of humor. Talk about setting an example.