Lawrence Fan, In Memoriam
I’ve never met Lawrence Fan. I’ve never spoken to him on the phone. I’m pretty sure I emailed him once with a question about San Jose State water polo—but I’m not even sure about that.
Now, I’ll never forget him.
I would get updates from Fan about Spartan men’s and women’s water polo and was consistently impressed by how polite he was and how much information the recaps contained. He would start with: “Ladies and Gentlemen” then deliver a clear and inevitably upbeat assessment of whatever SJSU had done that weekend.
I’ve followed Spartan water polo since Bruce Watson revived the program in 2015, so I asked the SJSU men’s coach for his thoughts:
“He was a good person and great guy,” said Watson, who also played for the Spartans in the early 70s. “I knew him for a long time; he was everything San Jose athletics! I'm still blown away…”
Since news of his passing has rippled through the Bay Area sports community, I’ve learned just how important a personage I was so casually dealing with. I had no idea that Fan, who passed away a week ago at the age of 67, has been with SJSU since 1980. In that time he had NEVER missed a Spartans football game. For those keeping score at home, that means covering 501 straight games for his university—leading Brent Brennan, SJSU football coach, to call Fan “the Lou Gehrig of sports information directors.”
According to a story in the Mercury News, “Fan, a San Francisco native, joined the SJSU sports information department in 1980. This fall he worked his 501st straight football game with the Spartans but had a part in helping promote and celebrate virtually every sport on campus during his Hall of Fame career.”
But I knew none of this. All I can say was that it was always a pleasure to read his emails—by the way, he’s not the only one I could say that about—but his posts always stood out. So much so that just this week I made note of them in my occasional CWPA Top 25 overview, pointing out the contrast between the considerate SID and the fierce Spartan women.
I’m particularly sad that I never got to partake in the “Fan cake”—a regular treat he would bestow upon ravenous (and I hope appreciative!) media folks covering SJSU football (I suppose that as a polo guy I would not have merited a slice—but just to know this existed is enough to make me want in on that gig).
Now, that’s not gonna happen again.
In some small, selfish way, I feel cheated—and stupid that I never took the time to email Fan back and thank him for making my day with his recaps. It makes me sad; I mean, we’ve all had a tough time of late, so maybe this will prod me to acknowledge and be grateful for the good things around.
And to think about all the folks who knew Laurence Fan, cared about him, and will no longer get to enjoy his cheerful manner and positive outlook.
For that, I am truly sorry.