NY Squash Legend: Bob Lehman, Dedicated Supporter and Historian of New York Squash 

By Rob Dinerman
September, 2024

Never in the history of squash in the United States has any association been blessed with a member who cared as much about its well-being, or done as much to further it, as Robert H. Lehman, universally known as Bob, did on behalf of NY Squash (known at the time as the Metropolitan Squash Racquets Association, or MSRA) for four decades. Besides being the Association’s only two-time recipient of the Board of Governors Award—“For contributions to the game of squash in the New York metropolitan area”—Lehman was also its most vocal supporter, leading citizen and loyal friend. Introduced to the sport at the relatively late age of 29, he fell in love with squash at once and played for many years at the City Athletic Club, whose C team he captained throughout the post-World War II 1940’s before business commitments ended his days as an active player.

Most players lose interest in a sport when they stop playing it; in Lehman’s case, the opposite occurred. In 1949 he was asked by NY Squash’s Publication Committee Chairman Malcolm Muir (a reporter at the time for Newsweek), to assist with the production of the MSRA Annual Yearbook, and two years later, in 1951, he took over that Committee’s Chairmanship. In this latter capacity he produced, single-handedly and without compensation, this Yearbook—write-ups, photos, ads, everything—for an incredible THIRTY-FIVE YEARS from 1951-85 before finally “retiring” from this avocation, albeit while still assisting the younger generation for the next several years as well. He took tremendous pride in this project, which during his tenure deservedly became known throughout the U.S. squash community (not just the New York community) as the “squash Bible"—to the extent that it became the only regional-association Yearbook which was ordered and widely read in other parts of the country as well.

Lehman became a lovable fixture—even more so than the players—at all of the invitational tournaments and regional championships in the New York metropolitan area, during which he seemed to spend the entire weekend in constant motion, scurrying around from one match to another, taking snapshots with his oversized camera and furiously scribbling notes from his perch in the gallery on an undersized pad. The Yearbooks themselves, whose release in early autumn (on the eve of a new squash season) was always eagerly awaited—since the players knew that Lehman’s chronicling of the season just past would turn those prior-years’ tournaments into Scripture—were fleshy (routinely more than 125 pages) and brimming with tournament reports, creatively captioned photos, MSRA historical records and always a substantial “Let’s, Nicks, Aces and Errors” column that was a potpourri of recounts and compelling personal stories from the squash world. There has never been either a regional or national Yearbook of similar quality either before or since. Lehman’s superior writing and action photographs far exceeded simple reportage— each season’s Yearbook was a “fun read” that brought the characters on the court stage to life. He even acquired the affectionate moniker “Mr. Squash of the Northeast”—the little guy with the big camera tucked in a corner of the gallery at every major tournament.

In 1960 Treddy Ketcham, the MSRA President at the time, announced the initiation of the Board of Governors award during the season-ending Annual Banquet. As soon as Ketcham broached the subject of the new award, Lehman readied his camera—only to learn that HE was the recipient! The fact that Lehman also received this prestigious award exactly a quarter-century later, in 1985, in tribute to that being his final year producing the Yearbook, points up the longevity of his contributions. Other honors included the Chivas Regal Gold Racquet designation for October 1983 (in tribute to his recent 75th birthday), a number of President’s Awards and the status of being the longest-tenured member of the MSRA’s Executive Council. Lehman himself donated an award in his name in 1968 “for the year’s most improved player,” and he loved the fact that every autumn aspiring players would “warn” him of their impending selection six months later. The Annual Dinners were always highlighted by the rambling oratory of his presentation, and the denouement was always excitedly and gratefully received. In 1981 the MSRA’s Women’s Division, which had been non-existent in 1968 but which had markedly grown through the decade of the 1970’s, instituted a counterpart women’s most-improved award, presented by Leland Fernandez. At those events, as well as at the Saturday-night dinners that were a staple of virtually all the tournaments during that time frame, Lehman could be counted on to regale those around him or at his table with tales of squash’s glorious past.

All in all, Bob Lehman’s life—which ended when he died at age 79 in May 1988 after being bedridden for nearly a year in the wake of heart surgery—was a joyous passage, with squash its most prominent common denominator, and those who had the good fortune to travel part of the way with him have always cherished the memory of the many good times—which is exactly what he would have wanted.

Rob Dinerman succeeded Lehman as the producer of the MSRA’s Annual Yearbook from Bob Lehman and did so until the MSRA Board decided to discontinue the Yearbook’s production in 1994. He has written 16 books about squash, the most recent of which, 100 Years Of College Squash, 1923-2023, was released in March 2024.

Rob Dinerman is a squash historian who was the Official Writer for the MSRA Yearbook from 1985-94 and has written nearly 20 books about squash, all of which are arrayed on the robdinerman.com home page. His next book, on the first 100 years of college squash (1923-2023), is scheduled to be released in February 2024.