‘The Hermanator,’ Herman Tannenbaum A salute to one of our oldest living ALTA members BY AMY BERGIN, NET NEWS CONTRIBUTOR
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Tannenbaum in 1943. Army B-24 Bomber navigator.
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NETNEWS MAY/JUNE 2021
erman Tannenbaum was born on July 26, 1922 in Brooklyn, New York during times when tennis was quite a luxury. This was the same year a new tennis stadium that you might have heard of, Centre Court at Wimbledon, first opened. Tannenbaum’s curiosity with the sport began in his late teens, when he started following tennis professional Vic Seixas, who at that time (from the 1940s through the 1960s), was “the face of American tennis.” It was Seixas’ Jewish heritage, mental and physical discipline, tenacity, and service in the Army that deeply inspired Tannenbaum. However, playing the sport would have to wait since Tannenbaum was called up to serve in the war in 1943 when he was only 21 years old. He became an Army B-24 Bomber navigator, which meant sit ting behind t he co-pilot and telling him where to go as well as explaining how much fuel was left and what was expected from the weather. He served 3 ½ years of combat duty, executing low-altitude bombings overseas, mostly in China. After the war ended, Tannenbaum arrived safely home to Brooklyn where a big welcome party lovingly organized by his sister was waiting for him. It was on this day
that he met the true love of his life, Lorraine Pine. He and Lorraine married on Mar. 9, 1947. They later had two sons, and moved to Miami, Florida in 1957. There, Tannenbaum and his father-in-law started a business called Smiling Jacks Auto Parts, and this is when Tannenbaum, in his mid-forties, decided it was finally time to start playing tennis. A few friends were playing at Flamingo Beach, and the North Miami Beach Tennis Club had clay courts where residents could purchase an annual season pass for $400 (about $836 in today’s dollars). To him, this seemed like a lot of money, but Tannenbaum wanted to play so he joined a team. Over the years, he developed his game on these well-known clay courts that sit next to The Ancient Spanish Monastery. Eventually, it became the notable place where Nick Bollettieri started his famed tennis coaching career. Fast forward to the year 2000, and the Tannenbaums had moved to Atlanta and bought a house in Bridle Ridge, a fairly new subdivision with tennis courts in Forsyth County. It took a few years to get familiar with the neighborhood. In 2004, at the age of 77, an age when playing competitive tennis winds down for most, Tannenbaum joined his first ALTA team. It was a C5 mixed doubles team, captained by Ashley Cavender. “He was my tennis partner for several years and people were always in awe of him,” Cavender said. “Herman does not like to lose, and he never makes any excuses.” She added that first and foremost, he is an unbelievable sportsman, always supportive, helpful and positive, even to their opponents. She says the humanity of him towards every human being
