An Unlikely Mentor

Freddie & Me:   A Book Review  

A good friend recently gave me a very entertaining and inspiring book entitled Freddie & Me.   The book is about a black man who became the unlikely mentor for a young white boy who was the son of a well-respected doctor and who lived in an affluent neighborhood in Augusta, Georgia.  The book’s author is Tripp Bowden, who wrote the book in remembrance and in honor of his friend and mentor Freddie Bennett.    

Freddie was the long-time and legendary Caddie Master at the exclusive and world-famous Augusta National Golf Club, which is the home of the Masters Golf Tournament.   Tripp’s father, Dr. Joe Bowden, was Freddie’s doctor and friend.   

One day, when Tripp was ten years old, Freddie stopped by the Bowden home for a brief visit with Dr. Bowden.   Freddie asked Tripp if he would like to go fishing, and Tripp accepted the invitation.   The first fishing trip was the beginning of a close relationship that continued until Freddie’s death many years later.  

Freddie & Me is a fun and easy book to read, but it is also an important book because it reveals the wisdom that an older black man was able to share with his young white friend.   Freddie believed in hard work, personal responsibility and respect for others regardless of age, race or social standing.    Young Tripp soaked up everything that Freddie said and in the process learned many valuable life lessons.   

When Tripp was 14, Freddie offered him his first job as a “forecaddy” at the Masters Golf Tournament.   A forecaddy’s job is to fix a player’s ball marks and sweep sand off the green with a fiberglass pole.   Later, after Tripp had graduated from college, he didn’t know what to do with his life.  He didn’t want to be a teacher, but he didn’t feel qualified to do anything else after majoring in English and philosophy.   Freddie came to Tripp’s rescue by offering him a position as a caddy at the Augusta National Golf Course.  Tripp became the first full-time white caddy in the history of the private club.    His fellow black caddies referred to him as “White Boy” or “Little Doc.”  

Freddie continued to take care of Tripp by giving him advice about how to do his job and about life in general.    He told Tripp he would have the opportunity to meet some of the most powerful men in the world and encouraged him to develop relationships with the men who were using him as a caddy.    Freddie repeatedly reminded Tripp he couldn’t caddy forever and needed to make plans for the rest of his life.   “What’cha gonna do with your life, man?   Can’t caddy forever, you know.”  

Freddie had the unique ability to communicate his homespun wisdom to Tripp with snappy simple phrases.  Tripp refers to Freddie’s favorite sayings as Freddie-isms.   Some of my favorites include the following:  “Ever wonder why a dog chases a car when he knows he can’t drive it.”  “Seen a lot of things in my day, but I ain’t never seen no hearse with a luggage rack.”   “You ain’t gonna change the future if you don’t know the past.”    “A little tip goes a long way, but a big tip goes forever.  And forever is a mighty long time.”   “No matter the situation, there is always going to be somebody better off than you, and always somebody worse off.”  “Don’t ever tell anybody to lay up on the chance of a lifetime.”    “Even the best golfer in the world isn’t as perfect as he might appear.  You ain’t gotta be perfect to succeed.”   “Not all history is in books, you know.”    

Of all the things Freddie taught Tripp, which ones were the most important?   Tripp’s answer is contained near the end of Freddie & Me.    “It’s never too late to show your appreciation, never to late to make a wrong situation right.  It’s never too late to say ‘thank you.’”  

As Freddie planned, the opportunity to caddy at Augusta National led to opportunities for Tripp.   Ultimately, an advertising executive who Tripp met on the golf course offered him a position with a large advertising firm on Madison Avenue in New York City.    After spending some time in New York, Tripp joined a public relations firm in Atlanta.   He now owns his own advertising company and lives in Augusta.  

Freddie was Tripp’s unlikely mentor.   A mentor is a trusted friend, counselor, or teacher who provides advice and guidance to someone who generally is younger and less experienced.   My dictionary defines a mentor as “a trusted counselor or guide” and as a “tutor” or “coach.”   The word mentor comes from a character named Mentor in Homer’s story The Odyssey.   According to the story, when Odysseus, the King of Ithaca, left home to fight the Trojan War, he asked his friend, Mentor, to care for his son while he was away.   The word mentor has been used ever since to refer generally to anyone who provides advice and guidance to another over an extended period of time.   

A good mentor is had to find.   The world would be a better place if more young people had someone like Freddie Bennett to help guide them along the way.   

Freddie & Me is well worth the time it takes to read it if for no other reason than to enjoy the Freddie-isms and to think about the wisdom behind them.    I am not a golfer, but you don’t have to be a golfer to enjoy Freddie & Me.   I recommend it for anyone who needs both inspiration and entertainment combined with a heavy dose of good old common sense, which seems to be in short supply these days.