Remembering Gussy Moran – By: Philip Gutierrez

Written by: Staff on 22nd January 2013

Remembering Gussy Moran - By: Philip Gutierrez |

Last week I learned that Gussy Moran passed away. I read articles about her life. The stories chronicled her professional achievements, strong personality, financial challenges, Wimbledon, and of course her beauty. With each story, I emailed friends and law clerks about her. I asked everyone “Have you heard of Gussy Moran?” They all said no. I felt compelled to explain why I was asking the question. Gussy touched my life and I felt compelled to explain.

I grew up in East Los Angeles. I am often asked, “How did you get to be a federal judge?” Of course, It takes hard work. But Bill Walton, basketball great, explained that Coach Wooden debunked that theory. Coach said on hard work: “It’s the most over rated thing in the world. That’s a given; if you’re not going to work hard you have no chance.”

Beyond the work, I talk about my Angels. People that drop from the sky, out of nowhere, and change my life. Gussy was an Angel.

Like the song, I was born and raised in East Los Angeles. I am the youngest of four. My parents divorced when I was six or seven because my father struggled with alcohol and drug addiction. I was understandably acting out and being disruptive at school. It was a Catholic school and my mother, a saint, begged the nuns not to throw me out of school.

During my seventh grade, I met Brother Hilary, a Benedictine brother. He introduced me to tennis. He meet Gussy and convinced her to come to East Los Angeles and teach tennis to a bunch of Latino kids? I was one of them.

She came and I was determined to stand out. She noticed me and I noticed her. She asked me to help her at the clinic. She took an interest in me driving from Santa Monica to East Los Angeles to give me private lessons. On special occasions, she took me to the Los Angeles Tennis Club. She would go through drills and play a set. I was most worried about lunch and picking up the proper fork. I was clueless and she was totally welcoming.

But at the end , it was not about tennis. She left me with great life lessons. One of the lessons came at the LA tennis club. Working backward, Gussy was 49 years old and I was 13 years old. She usually beat me but on this day I pushed back. I was very excited and probably arrogant. Gussy said “Philip, you are good as your worst day.”. By today’s standards, that would be harsh. It was not. Gussy loved me. She was teaching me balance — don’t get to high and don’t get so low. Stay balanced Phillip.

By: Philip Gutierrez

Topics: Gertrude Moran, gussie moran, Gussy Moran, LA Tennis Club, Philip Gutierrez, Sports, tennis icon, Tennis Legend, Tennis News