RIP to two longtime coaches in the Bay Area, Jake White and Bill Taylor

Sad to report two losses for the high school running communities. The first is longtime Sir Francis Drake coach, Bill Taylor. The second is former Lynbrook coach, Jake White (below on the left with Gunn coach, Hal Daner). RIP to two gentlemen who made their team members better athletes and people.

The following was written on www.lynbrooksports.com by Wilcox coach Walt Van Zant announcing Jake White's death:

http://lynbrooksports.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/XC/2021/jakew.htm 

In today's Marin IJ:
https://www.marinij.com/2021/10/05/bill-taylor-legendary-drake-high-track-coach-dies-at-87/

The following was posted by one of the best runners to graduate from Drake, Richie Boulet.

William M Taylor

1933-2021

I know many of us have a coach, teacher, or some kind of mentor who was influential in their development from an adolescent into an adult. To say that Mr. Taylor was influential to mine is the understatement of the year, if not the century.

Our relationship was not complex, but it was deep. I did what he told me to do. I wanted him to be proud of me. His plan for me had to do with much more than running. He saw running as the vehicle to transform cocky little shits like me into thoughtful, engaged, compassionate human beings with a sense of the larger world and their place in it. He opened my eyes to philosophy, history, mythology, and world travel. I’m sure I would still be a perfectly healthy adult without his influence, but I would certainly not be the Richie Boulet that many of you know.

I don’t think I ever called him by his first name. It never occurred to me. It wasn’t a way to keep distance between us, or be less friendly. I think it had more to do with respect, and the place he held in my universe. It wouldn’t occur to most of us to call a parent by their first name.

We should all be so lucky to have lived such a full life. We should all be so lucky to have someone like Mr. Taylor in ours.