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Her father, Lester Fry, was the driving force behind her and a strong believer that sports were the answer to a happy, useful life. Fry imposed a sporting regimen on the whole family, Mother [Ida] Fry included.

As soon as the children were old enough to walk, Fry started them hiking and swinging tennis rackets. To this day Mrs. [Ida] Fry, now 66, plays every day when she can get a game. She boasts, "I played over 200 sets last year. And I have won five, or is it six, city doubles titles."

I also remember my father telling me that Lester put Shirley on the train to distant locales to participate in tennis tournaments around the country; and there is an article in the Akron Beacon Journal from 1956 which confirms that Lester did indeed put Shirley on the train to Philadelphia at age 10 for one of her first tournaments.


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