Richard Dunn
Thoughts and prayers go out to high-spirited Louisa Arnold today as
she undergoes surgery for endothelial cancer. Her shining light and smile
in the tennis community will be missed temporarily, but she expects to be
back on the courts.
Arnold's enthusiasm for life carried her to Broadway in her stage career
and, later, as a venerable member of the Newport Beach Tennis Club.
Arnold, a Santa Ana Country Club member and volunteer at the Toshiba
Senior Classic, the Senior PGA Tour stop at Newport Beach Country Club,
said she had no pain leading up to today's big date at Hoag Hospital, and
even continued to enjoy her active golf and tennis schedules with her
usual overabundance of energy.
The author of the comedic poetry book "Tennis Ticklers" which came out in
July 1994 and wound up on the shelves at the International Tennis Hall of
Fame in Rhode Island, Arnold currently plays on two Newport Beach Tennis
Club Pacific Sun League teams.
A thespian who still acts on stage, Arnold graduated from the American
Academy of Dramatic Arts at Carnegie Hall in New York City, then traveled
with USO Camp Shows, performing original comedy monologues and musicals.
She once played on stage in "Auntie Mame" and appeared in Hollywood
films. Once, as a contestant, she baffled the panel of the television
show "What's My Line?"
Arnold, whose once told this reporter that she grew up a "fat kid,"
developed a method for figure control which she has taught at health
spas, calling the class "Bottoms Up," and emphasizing body posture
alignment.
Louisa, who became Mrs. Phil Arnold in 1974, suffered a near-fatal
accident in 1980 at Mazatlan, Mexico, but recovered from a spinal-cord
injury and paralyzed arms. To this day, she wears white gloves while
playing tennis to ward off bacteria from infecting her hands, because of
skin damage suffered in the freak accident involving offshore rocks and a
huge, untimely wave.
Best wishes today to Louisa, a great friend and tennis player, and an
inspiration to many -- myself included.
Double trouble: Palisades Tennis Club member Lindsay Davenport, who has
recently taken up residence in Laguna Beach, is on fire and will soon
overtake Martina Hingis as the world's top-ranked woman player.
After coming from behind to smoke Hingis in the Tennis Masters Series
final at Indian Wells, Davenport extended her winning streak over Hingis
to five matches.
Davenport, who has been in four finals this year, including one at the
