I’ve seen this sign for 50 years and never understood it. I know what the words mean. But what makes it significant? 

When I was younger, I studied some of the poems of Robert Frost. Every school child did. The man was an American icon, rightly celebrated for his way with words.

I don’t remember though learning about his tennis skills. A quick glance at Wikipedia makes no mention of his athletic prowess or lack thereof. I suspect he was just a recreational player. For all I know, he may never have played another match after the summer of 1890.

Maybe the plaque is like those “Washington slept here” signs that I am given to understand are scattered around the Eastern US.That’s really not a big deal if you stop to think about it – the man had to sleep somewhere. 

It makes sense that Robert Frost would learn to play tennis on the courts next door to where he worked (the hotel itself is long gone). He was only 16-years-old at the time. A plaque may have been in order if he had gone on to become a famous tennis player instead of a writer – or if George Washington had slept at the hotel while he was working there.

I guess there is a desire to be associated somehow with celebrity, even if it is a tenuous connection. I’m not a tennis player – but I’d be willing to take lessons at the Ocean Park courts if I thought they could teach me to write like Robert Frost.

I don’t think they can though.