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_ The forward pass of today is a Naismith innovation. Today it is the most
_ spectacular of all plays on our gridjrons.

“The happiest moment of uy life", Dr. Naismith said, "came in 1956",
when he attended the Olympic games in Berlin and sew the game of basketball
played for the first time in the international Olympic competition. The Father

of Basketball was sent to Berlin following a drive for funds sponsored by the

National Association of Basketball Coaches among spectators, officials and

players who wanted to have Dr. Naismith present when the teams of all nations
filed in behind their respective flags. Dr. Naismith addressed the assembled
players before the start of the tournament, and admitted that in so doing his
eyes were misty.

When Dr. Naismith was appraised of the gratuity and affectionate
contribution of his friends toward the Olympic trip, his epic statement was,
"Do not be afraid to serve humanity and wait for your reward". The words of
Kipling seem most fitting to him: | |

_ “And only the Master shall praise ‘is and only the Master shall blame,
And no one shall work for money, and no one shall work for fame.
But each for the joy of the working, and each in his separate star,
Shall draw the thing as he sees it for the God of tthings as they are."

On November 28, 1939, Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball,
died at his home in the quiet college town of Lawrence, Kansas. He suffered .~

critical hemorrhage on Novenber 19, but rallied and returned to his home from

“the hospital after four days. Two days later he was stricken with a heart

attack which resulted in his death. — |

Dr. Naismith, who fifty years ago gave the game of basketball to the
world, was born in Altmonte, Canada, on November 6, 1861. Left an orphan an
age of eight, he made his home with Peter Naismith, a bachelor uncle. He |

attended McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and graduated with an A. B,

degree in 1887. This was the first of his three degrees. In 1890 he graduated