Book Signing for Profiles in Polo at Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame
By Alex Webbe
Wellington, FL: The Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame was the sight of a book signing for Dr. Horace A. Laffaye’s Profiles in Polo, attracting upwards to100 polo players and fans. Wine and hors d’oeuvres were offered to a gathering that included former United States Polo Association Chairman, Steve Orthwein, Julian and Howard Hipwood, Hall of Famers Fred Fortugno and Tony Coppola. Spotted among the throng were George and Brenda Dupont, Averill and Kirsten Fisk, Russell and Missy Corey, Peter and Gwen Rizzo, Cathy Brown, Jim Cruz, Dave Offen and a host of others.
Dr. Laffaye briefly shared his anguish over the selection process, wishing he could have included some any more but confident in the fact that the thirty-three men and one woman who appear in Profiles in Polo deserved their place in the book.
BOOK REVIEW
Horace Laffaye’s Profiles in Polo is a genuine gift to the world polo community. In his latest offering, Dr. Laffaye presents an intimate look at 34 people who he has selected as having a “profound impact” on the sport of polo.
Soliciting editorial contributions from many of the world’s leading polo journalists and adding nine profiles of his own, we are left with a roadmap of polo’s development in the west that is intertwined with personal looks at some of its most ardent supporters and participants.
A foreword written by H. R. H. the Prince of Wales salutes the efforts put forward in Profiles in Polo while recalling his own family’s involvement in the game dating back to the mid nineteenth century.
An introduction furthers the education process by informing the reader on matters from initial polo handicapping and turf management to ponies and the composition of the polo ball itself.
The quick read and casual browse I anticipated was not present. Laffaye delivered a well-researched scholarly work that will serve as an invaluable reflection on the game of polo and some of the people who helped shape it.
The book is broken into five distinct sections that offer profiles of individuals from polo’s earliest days in England, “The Pioneers” (“Chicken” Hartopp, Thomas St. Quintin, John Watson, Francis Herbert, Foxhall Keene and Harry Payne Whitney) all the way up to “The Great Contemporaries where we are offered profiles of Prince Charles, Alberto Pedro Heguy, Julian Hipwood, Joe Barry, Gonzalo Pieres, Memo Gracida and Adolfo Cambiaso.
“Between the Wars” allows us an opportunity to learn about the contributions which were made to the game by Irishman Johnny Traill, Devereux Milburn, Canadian-born Lewis Lacey, India’s Hanut Singh, Tommy Pope, Earl Montbatten of Burma and Australian Jim Ashton.
Profiles in Polo has been careful to include sections on “The Superstars” (Tommy Hitchcock, Cecil Smith, Bob Skene, Carlos Menditeguy, Sinclair Hill, Juan Carlos Harriott, Jr. and Frankie Dorignac) as well as “Movers and Shakers” (Lord Cowdray, John Oxley, Kerry Packer, Michael Rattray, Marcos Uranga and Claire Tomlinson).
You will find yourself jumping from one end of the book to the other as you look into the private lives of these powerful and exciting players, examining everything from their source of ambition to their dedication to this stick and ball game on horseback.
This is a must read for any player, aspiring player or sports historian. The accounts have been carefully gathered and assimilated into an interesting, informative and well written chronicle of the game as seen through the profiles of some of its most noted participants.
A five star review and my personal thanks to Dr. Horace Laffaye for a most interesting and informative read and his invaluable contribution to the chronicling the game of polo.
-Alex Webbe