Article 1380

by Edie Gruender

January 2, 2002

Art Kaufman was a tax-fighting activist in Arizona who worked hard on this because "he didn't think that people should pay taxes for private enterprise. He believed in fairness in taxation." He was a competitor in these endeavors just as he was in his days as a championship swimmer and a basketball player.

He went to a number of National Masters Championship Meets and did well in the 100 fly and 400 I.M. One time he was swimming the 400 I.M. when the event was stopped in the breast stroke, because another swimmer in the heat needed medical help. The men swimming voted later to swim their event again. These men were 75-79 years old and had already swum the 100 fly and 100 back once. Art was a real fighter in anything he tackled and we saw that when he swam for Arizona Masters. He will be missed. 11/27/13 to 2/27/00.

Edie Gruender , 3/1/00

reply to Gary Weisenthal

Good to hear from you, Gary. I received a copy of your letter to Carl.

Yes, Dad, Cliff Brown, ran the 2-mile cable swim in 1975, 1976 and 1977 in Trout Lake, Menomonie Falls, Wisconsin. He had the distance surveyed and had two rafts built so the swimmers could be counted at each turn. Pool lane lines were strung together to guide the swimmers, and boats were along the route to guard the swimmers. He also had a doctor at the meet.

I have pictures of the meets, but have not kept the records. Sorry, I didn't because all the swimmers were listed with their ages, addresses and AAU Registration Numbers.

Daddy had the bid for running the Masters Maximum in 1978, but he died Dec. 19, 1977, so I ran the meet August 22, as a Memorial to him. If you swam the meet when Dad also swam it, it was one of the ealier meets.

Edie Brown Gruender, 1/1/02