Welcome Keith James! New Contributor

Please welcome my new friend, smart professor and passionate pickleball player – Mr. Keith James!  The way I met Keith was that we had been pen pals (yes emailing) for the last seven months and since my travels took me to the Seattle area in January, I had to make sure we met up. He lives in Gig Harbor and Alex Hamner and I taught a pickleball class there and got to finally personally meet and play with Keith. His insight into pickleball is unlike any player I have met, and along with his excellent teaching and grammar skills I told Keith he was HIRED to be a contributor to Jennifer’s Pickleball Blog… lucky for me and you, he agreed…  Here’s what he shares about himself:

Hi, my name is Keith James.  I am seventy years old, a retired instructor of English after forty-two years of college teaching, and a self-proclaimed pickleball addict.  I live in Gig Harbor, Washington, with my dear wife, Allie.  We will be married fifty years this July.  We are grateful to have our two children, their spouses, and our three grandchildren live nearby.

I began playing indoor pickleball two and a half years ago whenever inclement Pacific Northwest weather drizzled me off the tennis courts.  Slowly, my allegiance switched from tennis to pickleball until pickleball became my full time sport.   Allie and I now play four to six times a week at the Gig Harbor YMCA.

I am intrigued by how complex such an outwardly simple sport can be and relish the challenge of “mastering” the game even at a later stage of my life.  However, it is the priceless gift of meeting so many wonderful people and the equally invaluable gift of fun and laughter that make the great sport of pickleball such a passionate part of my life.

Check out his first very popular blog post: Pickleball – Intimations of Mortality

A funny: in this photo of him, he is holding his paddle, which he had Alex Hamner and I sign. We are now always with him on the court 🙂