"Around the long kitchen table, John-Henry began to make his case.Ted did not want to be frozen at first. In the past few years, she studied nursing, and even that hasn't been enough, so now she's studying biology and statistics, prerequisites for graduate school. Even in her moment of triumph, something worried her, a neurotic fear. "The literature John-Henry took home from Alcor, one of the country's two major cryonics companies, worked in his imagination; he purchased every book they offered, according to credit card receipts. We're desperately trying -- I say 'we' like John-Henry's still around -- but we're desperately trying to figure out what made him tick. she asks, hopeful. "Please don't be mad," she said. "It wasn't until I cared for my elderly father as his health declined," she wrote on her application, "that I discovered my true calling.". John-Henry kept saying cryonics provided a chance for them all to be together again one day. Nimo Omer and Claudia Williams have some answers, Rule breakers, Zoom daters and the etiquette of love during lockdown. That summer, Alberta and Claudia made the . The most important thing he read was the origin text of cryonics, a book by science fiction writer and professor Robert Ettinger titled The Prospect of Immortality. According to Claudia, that's when John-Henry returned to the Williams family favorite: the nonbinding, casually written contract. Big day in a young fisherman's life. -- and she got melancholy later and said, "We need to laugh more. Evolving? "See if you can help John-Henry get a job," Williams asked. Standing around the kitchen, she and Eric told the story of what happened when she opened her letter. Claudia and Eric pull into the drive, the gate with the red No. Her dream was to attend Middlebury College in Vermont. He saved a wild duck he found, and countless other birds. He signed the rest, and the whole box went into storage. All they had was each other, and both longed to decode their dad, and maybe find themselves in the process. he asked. Claudia Williams is a journalist for The Advocate covering general news and events. In the definitive biography of Ted Williams, by Ben Bradlee Jr., John-Henry is shown as a terrible businessman and a cheat, someone who lied so often -- inviting his dad to a college graduation where he didn't actually graduate, claiming to make his college baseball team when he never tried out -- that he lied about Ted's wanting to be frozen too. The only thing left is a frayed set of Ted's beloved Encyclopedia Britannica, which he bought after retiring, spending hours scouring them for the knowledge he felt ashamed not to have. "Daddy would sit right here," she says, laughing. He signed the rest, and the whole box went into storage. "Right from the start, we knew we weren't gonna have much time, you know? She cooked hot dogs in a gypsy circus. She found the note three years ago, 10 years after he died, going through memorabilia. Maybe she'd just find ways to exhaust herself, and find obsessions to occupy her mind, day after day, year after year, never breaking free of her father and never feeling as if she had honored his memory either. In the past few years, she studied nursing, and even that hasn't been enough, so now she's studying biology and statistics, prerequisites for graduate school. New. My first trip to Fenway was in May of 1982 [to watch dad play in an old-timers game]. "The doctor nodded and scheduled the surgery. Back at home, all of it piles up, hurt stacked upon hurt, so what started as sadness about her mom became fear and desperation over the family coming to an end with her, and she's just dissolving in her high-ceilinged kitchen, coming apart. He traced his finger over the old man's wrinkled palm. Becoming a man in his father's eyes? She found the note three years ago, 10 years after he died, going through memorabilia. "TED WANTED TO change. Soon Ted gave them praise that would never reach their ears. Looking back, Claudia wishes she'd let him get her into Middlebury, because it was the only thing he knew how to do. Like any damaged person, he took his protection too far. When she died, 11 months after he hit a home run in his final at-bat, he went through her things and gathered up family photographs. Claudia saw him first, and she and John-Henry dragged their father over.The fortune-teller sat on a low stool. "Still do. Impossible to hit, even harder to defend, Floyd Mayweather is fighting to leave the ring the way he entered it: Standing. Her co-workers at the Crystal River, Florida, medical center where she's a nurse are only now finding out on their own. If people do know, she tests them constantly, to make sure they don't like her for her dad's name. She let me poke through the family's filing cabinets, its safes, her dad's hospital records, anything I wanted -- she could prove, she said, that her father agreed to be frozen. Ted Williams gave his three children the name he'd made famous, and when he died, their battle turned a solemn passing into a late-night punch line. She checks her mom's blood pressure: 86/60 and dropping. Finally he got his first fish. You could just watch it rage. There are 400+ professionals named " claudia Williams", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. He longed to rewrite the facts of his life. "JOHN-HENRY WILLIAMS loved frogs.He loved anything small and weak. "Dad, you have to take this medicine," John-Henry would be saying. They drove to a nearby park, where she could run until she felt tired enough to stop thinking.That was 13 years ago, and while people still remember something about Ted's head being frozen, the daily onslaught is over. See Photos. Nothing worked.Father and son had epic fights, bad enough that the caretakers called protective services. During storms, driving up the hill toward their house in Vermont, he'd jump out of the car in the pouring rain, trying to get the frogs to move before they died beneath the wheels of the car. She checks her mom's blood pressure: 86/60 and dropping. "I love you more than you'll ever know.". Chinas transformation into an economic powerhouse has come at a cost to its children, under enormous pressure to succeed. When he got leukemia a year after Ted died, she donated bone marrow, and when he needed another transplant and her blood count was too low, she begged the doctors to try anyway. He couldn't buy her peace. "You have to have a child," he told her.The idea is strange, yet mechanically quite simple: She'd need a surrogate mother and a name. "The legacy deserves to go on," she says finally, crying harder than before. Claudia, a nurse, listens to the plodding thumps of a tired heart. "You could see an internal struggle," Abel says. Near the safe in his old house is a note Ted saved, dated Dec. 10, 1983, when Claudia was 12. It hurts too much. Ted's old study would make a perfect nursery. The Red Sox hosted her in Boston, and a big crowd showed up, and people cried when she shared her memories, her joys and her pain. In big letters, he wrote "Make Claudia co-petitioner" and circled it. There is only one picture of John-Henry in her house. The US snow crab harvest has been cancelled after billions of them went missing from the waters around Alaska. It's thick, jammed with newsletters, receipts, contracts and John-Henry's handwritten notes taken during a visit to the cryonics facility. The children created their own world, and only they understand what it felt like to live in it. "My heart hurt," she says.That night, after Eric cooks steaks and Emma bakes sugar cookies, everyone piles onto the sofa for movie night. The child could start a new future for the Williams family, built on love, or become a casualty of the cycle that shaped Claudia's life, and her father's life before that. The first visit lasted a week in the fall of 2014, and we made paella and she told funny stories about her dad -- he'd call the public phone in European hostels and boom at unsuspecting travelers, "Is CLAUDIA WILLIAMS there? At home, he brought her back to health and felt hurt when she wanted to roam outside. Stop!" The federal government is waiting on advice about whether Australians should have a fifth COVID-19 vaccine. "It'll be all right," he said.According to Claudia, that's when John-Henry returned to the Williams family favorite: the nonbinding, casually written contract. His health declined steadily for nearly the next nine years. Get in touch at claudia.williams@theadvocate.com.au or on 0448 310 641 Latest Stories. Two words showed something was wrong with the system, After centuries of Murdaugh rule in the Deep South, the family's power ends with a life sentence for murder, Flooding in southern Malaysia forces 40,000 people to flee homes. For years, she'd thought her father had stopped maturing when he became famous at 20, and now they'd both reached his emotional age, equals and running buddies for the first time. Sometimes Ted would curse and walk away. Narendra Modis dominance of Indian politics is built on a knowing appeal to traditional Indian values: Hindu values. She feels closest to him fishing but has been only once or twice since he died. "Hi, Daddy," she said. Dad. "First of all, Claudia," he says slowly, "let me apologize; I don't know what we've done with that shirt. The outside world slipped away, and the universe shrank to the three of them: a dad looking for absolution, a son who needed a dad to show him how to be a man, a daughter who'd always craved a family, which they at long last became. In a closet next to her garage, her father's Orvis 8.3-foot, 7-weight graphite fly rod leans on a wall. CLAUDIA WILLIAMS, NOW 43, rarely tells anyone about her relation to Ted Williams. When people criticized him, he lashed out at them I think he was lonely. About The WNET Group ""I was told it was a cold and overcast day," she said, then did something she never does. He loves me, I love him. Eric takes a breath and enters the room. CLIFF WELCH/ICON SPORTSWIRE/AP IMAGES. The three of them laughed, and they asked Ted questions, and he told stories and asked them questions too. He really tried. His will, which he wrote near the end of the fishing act of his life, made his wishes very clear. In letters home, she described being adrift, telling her dad she felt "like a lost athlete looking for a sport." Now in its 37th season on PBS, American Masters illuminates the lives and creative journeys of our nations most enduring artistic giantsthose who have left an indelible impression on our cultural landscapethrough compelling, unvarnished stories. And we actually showed him that not only was he good at it, we wanted him and we said, 'You can do this, Dad.' The fortune-teller sat on a low stool. The lessons that he had to teach us, we didn't have the time to learn. A Louisville Slugger leaned in the same cabinet as Toothless the Dragon, the first bit of baseball memorabilia in the living room. He's everywhere. "'Goddamn, that's my son. Williams hits one of his career 521 home runs, shown here in the late '50s. If you are a whistleblower, believe you have sensitive information that should be made public, or wish to protect your identity, find our more secure options. Ettinger wrote that the freezer always trumped the grave, and with nothing to lose, why not take a chance? The lines speak to the two competing desires governing her life: She wants to be close to a father she didn't really know for much of his life, but she wants to escape his shadow too. "It's time to let them go. By the time Eric Abel came into the Williams inner circle as the family attorney, Ted had already excommunicated Bobby-Jo. Standing around the kitchen, she and Eric told the story of what happened when she opened her letter. When I walked into the house, there'd be a hot dog on the table. The children created their own world, and only they understand what it felt like to live in it. ", "I'm the one who reached down to keep pulling you up," Abel says, driving. SHE AND ERIC fell in love during the horrible siege after they froze her father, who died of cardiac arrest almost two years after signing the note. This is the story of how, five years later, 300 remain lost in a system designed to swallow them, Claudia Williams presents a special edition of the Slow Newscast on a newsletter that both reflected and reshaped celebrity culture. With Ted's remains in stasis -- they didn't hold a memorial service, not even a small, private one -- she hasn't moved past grief into acceptance and peace. Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary after breaking the ministerial code. CBK GROUP/AP IMAGESNINE MONTHS AFTER that trip, he had a stroke. she cries.He presses hard on the brakes, and she gets out. "I love the Red Sox," he said. Love had control over him. Were going to kick off the new year by predicting what we think might happen in 2023. After deciding to make jewelry, she took classes to become a master craftsman. "They spent hours around the dining table, and every so often John-Henry would bring it up. The three of them flew together to San Diego and drove up the Pacific Coast. "You have to take these pills. They visited Alcatraz, and Ted used a Walkman for the first time, befuddled by the technology, and they all laughed. The house felt different than before, desolation replaced by hope. Well, goddamit, why are you mad, why are you upset. She interrupts him. Claudia Williams's Phone Number and Email. I got down to low and I got hit with small ground fire. Every year, she plants a tree in their memory, and leaving her dad's house one day, she sees that one of John-Henry's trees is dying. He'd be waiting for me right here. John-Henry Williams, a 6-foot-5 ringer for his handsome father, had long lived in the zeitgeist as a bumbling son who took and took without ever standing on his own. It's a mess, all of it. Her country club membership number is 9. "Even if it means saving your life?""No. Ted Williams gave his three children the name he'd made famous, and when he died, their battle turned a solemn passing into a late-night punch line. First, just simple mentions, when they were little: "Claudia, John Henry took canoe ride to Gray Rapids." The renovations on Ted's house are complete. After Ted died, friends told reporters that Williams disagreed with his son's obsession. "Four years passed between John-Henry's purchasing the books and requesting membership documents from Alcor. "I know Claudia will be fine.". When he was an old man, Harvard begged him to come and receive an honorary degree. She's searching, searching for a father, for a purpose, for a child, searching for the chance to complete what her dad started in the last decade of his life. Those memories, and the reaction of the elderly readers, finally pointed her toward her long-sought purpose. "Ted had that constant insecurity. Pressure is growing on Israel and Hamas to announce a ceasefire. "But he is interested. Who decides if the NHS can afford it? she coos. "You won't always be there to protect him," a character in the movie tells the father, and Claudia smiles, turns to Eric and says, "John-Henry would've loved this movie.". she says suddenly. That night, after Eric cooks steaks and Emma bakes sugar cookies, everyone piles onto the sofa for movie night. He was a fantastic parent," Claudia Williams said. He was 12. What will it take to fix a broken system? Before John-Henry died, he froze some of his sperm, and as executor, she controls it. Months passed, and after trying every other option available to buy time, only surgery would help Ted. What does the story of Alexei Navalny and his wife Yulia Navalnaya tell us about Vladimir Putins Russia and the state of opposition? To the public, he was a success, but to himself, he was a failure, consumed with shame and regret. At Ted's place in Islamorada, in the Keys, she got a terrible sunburn. Claudia Williams investigates a kind if complicated digital community, Dont know where to go next? I love you. Then the Williams kicked in: She moved up the USTA ratings, 3.5 to 4.0, then, she says, she became the best 4.0 in Citrus County, then the top-ranked 4.0 player in the state. "It's time to let them go.". "I was for s--- as a father," he confided once to a cousin. American Masters is available for streaming concurrent with broadcast on all station-branded PBS platforms, including PBS.org and the PBS App, available on iOS, Android, Roku streaming devices, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Samsung Smart TV, Chromecast and VIZIO. Major League Baseball (MLB) is the most historic professional sports league in the United States and consists of 30 member clubs in the U.S. and Canada, representing the highest level of professional baseball. As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work. Continue reading Taking a moment to remember . At the end, jealous and estranged, Bobby-Jo raged, leaving bizarre voice mails on Abel's answering machine: "This is Barbara Joyce Ferrell. Training for triathlons after she came home from Europe, every weekend Claudia would ride her bike here from Tampa. Claudia Williams is a Journalist at The South Burnett Times based in Kingaroy, Queensland. by Tim Keown, May 2 fight will seal Mayweather's legacy. Everything about me says no. HENRY LEUTWYLER. Once one of college basketball's brightest coaches, Jason Rabedeaux died mysteriously in Saigon, leaving his loved ones and colleagues to grapple with how far he'd fallen. "I can't do a f---ing thing! They sought out anything that might buy him more time -- no matter how experimental, unorthodox or just plain weird. Other times he'd listen.These private discussions would eventually become public, fitting into an existing narrative. Both would sign it, and the crisis would be averted.Even as he fought him, Ted knew John-Henry was struggling to find his place in the world. John-Henry bought a dialysis machine so Ted could get the treatment at night. Whenever they'd ask questions about his childhood, or his life, he'd scowl and grumble, "Read my book. She's searching for how to say goodbye, or maybe a way to move on, which often feels like the same thing.Today Claudia and husband Eric are looking at options to carry on her father's legacy. HENRY LEUTWYLER. May Williams never saw her son play a major league game, even though she lived through his entire career. Meet Daniel Norris, the most interesting pitcher in baseball. Find Claudia Williams's email address, contact information, LinkedIn, Twitter, other social media and more. He's a baseball God. Bradlee spent a decade reporting, and while Claudia and Eric say he got many things about Ted's military and baseball careers right, they say he allowed unreliable people to give opinions couched as facts when discussing the inner workings of the Williams clan, which has forever been a complicated tribe in which truths are perceptions and history keeps repeating itself: Bobby-Jo died five years ago, of advanced liver disease, killed by the same bad habits as her mother.Just months before his death, Williams makes an unannounced appearance at the Ted Williams Museum and Hitters Hall of Fame. The argument remains frustrating for everyone: Claudia can't prove they followed her father's wishes, and Bradlee can't prove they didn't. "Please don't be mad," she said. He knew he might not live through his procedure, and at the end of his life, he'd finally put aside his own wishes for theirs. A grilse. With Ted's remains in stasis -- they didn't hold a memorial service, not even a small, private one -- she hasn't moved past grief into acceptance and peace. "Did you see the frog?" About Major League Baseball Whenever she lets herself go back, she ends up at the same place: the beginning. ", I don't think [Ted] at the end of his life felt like he accomplished anything.. "He needed him so badly. The house is empty inside, dangling wires and pencil marks on the walls indicating where a range will go. When a video of a woman chained to a wall went viral in China, it ignited a battle for the truth between the people and the state, A former KGB officer, Britains foreign secretary and a potential national security breach. They spent hours around the dining table, and every so often John-Henry would bring it up. A Louisville Slugger leaned in the same cabinet as Toothless the Dragon, the first bit of baseball memorabilia in the living room. "Grief is weird," Claudia says, riding at night through the dark neighborhoods around their house. She is laughing in the kitchen, a lazy Sunday morning. Thousands of children were separated from their parents at the US border under the Trump administrations zero tolerance policy. "I think I'm just looking for him to still be proud of me," she says. Open in Who Shared Wrong byline? Hessian bags and milk crates scattered across the bank facing the river invite the market goers at Davies Park to relax under thetrees. Everyone she has ever loved except for Eric is gone or almost gone, and she's sure she'll outlive Eric. "He'd given up on it. Henry Leutwyler for ESPN Magazine, CLAUDIA LOVES DRAGONS. Claudia is beautiful and familiar, her face a combination of her mother's Vogue model cheekbones and her father's all-American jaw. This is the vision greeting Eric when he walks in from work: his wife, her face red and puffy, sobbing so hard she's struggling to breathe. Eric takes a breath and enters the room. I wanna say no so goddamn bad. His lifelong feud with the press began when a writer asked rhetorically in a column what kind of boy didn't go home in the winter to visit his mother. Every now and again, she sighs. Now she just needed to get into a graduate program, do years of studying and open her own nurse practitioner's office. Claudia leaned in and watched. -- and she got melancholy later and said, "We need to laugh more. About 20 years ago, she graduated from college. Finally Eric realized she needed to escape, so he put her in the back seat of his car, covered her with blankets and snuck her past the cameras. Reminders of her father are everywhere in Claudia's life. Claudia Williams is a journalist for The Advocate covering general news and events. What a weirdo. I first joined Tortoise as part of the Sensemaker team, and before that worked at the New York Times and The Week magazine. She threw plates and knives. "He thought I needed salt," she says, then switches to her flawless Ted Williams impersonation, a chin-jutting bass drum: "Yup, isn't that GOOD? His lifelong feud with the press began when a writer asked rhetorically in a column what kind of boy didn't go home in the winter to visit his mother. she asked, "or do you think they accepted me because of me?". "I don't think [Ted] at the end of his life felt like he accomplished anything," Abel says. "I was for s--- as a father," he confided once to a cousin.On the day his only son, John-Henry, was born, Ted was salmon fishing in Canada. What happens when science and medical research meet Wall Street?
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