by Larry Eder
Merrell Noden, photo courtesy of Princeton.edu
Merrell Noden was a giant of a writer. His writings on sport and anything he sunk his considerable wit and thoughtful style to, was reading material for me. I recall a piece for the Runner magazine around 1984 on Seb Coe and a how Merrell got chomped to pieces in a time trial for Coe before the LA Olympics.
I was in awe of Merrell (still am). He was close to the late James Dunaway, my mentor. Noden was a real writer: one learnt from reading Noden, insights that one could not get one one’s own, without twenty years of crashing Merrell’s reading list.
One of my few notes with Merrell was just this past Spring as we grieved over James Dunaway.
On Merrell’s FB page, his sister in law wrote how he died, as he lived, with love of his family and some dignity.
Tonight on my walk, through mid town Manhattan, I took a moment and wondered what Merrell Noden would say about my conversation earlier with a taxi driver from Uzbekistan or the three lovely women sharing friendship and jokes at a small French cafe I frequent.
But it was okay, as it was raining and no one noticed my tears. Nice to sometimes be in the Big Apple on a rainy, Tuesday night.
I continued on my way, thinking of a friend gone.
I thank Jeff Benjamin for writing the following obit. Jeff wrote two obits this weekend (Pat Petersen and Merrell).
Keep Merrell’s spirit by reading his piece on Charles Dickens, it is included below…
“I have loved the running culture and being around runners my whole life” – – Merrill NodenLast September, thanks to the help of many, this writer was able to secure a few minutes interviewing Sebastian Coe about the time he spent training on the outskirts of Chicago with legendary York Coach Joe Newton in preparation for his astounding performances in the 1984 LA Olympics.Lo and Behold, when I finished the piece and Larry Eder put it up, I felt a great sense of true accomplishment. That is, until I received this note from multi-Olympian and 3:49 miler Jim Spivey this critique from one of the Sport’s greatest writers–“What!! No mention of the Brigg Mile, at New River Stadium, Coe’s last 1500/mile race before the LA Games?? Where he faced down challenges from, among others, Merrell Noden and Jerry Odlin??!! Coe ran 3:54.0, I think, fastest in the world to that point that year. But his memorable quote was: “I really wasn’t very confident about my fitness until I raced that bloody Yank Noden and was able to pull away over the final half mile. That’s when I knew I was ready.”That was the humor of Merrell Noden, who sadly passed away yesterday from Cancer in Princeton, New Jersey. Noden was a 4:11 high school miler and New Jersey State Champion as well as a former 880 NJ state indoor record holder who then went on to compete at Princeton, and, through the intervening years lived and trained in his mother’s native England. As a writer, Noden started at Track and Field News, before moving over to Sports Illustrated, where, beginning in the mid 1980’s his writings and musings were followed by many devotees of running and track and field. From articles on Sebastian Coe, Legendary High School Joe Newton, Spivey, Bill Rodgers, Joan Benoit, Fred Lebow and a host of others, Noden’s ability to get in depth with his subjects made him one of the standards of the sport’s journalistic writers.Merrill also possessed other talents as well. “He could recite verbatim “Mounty Python and the Holy Grail”, said Jim Spivey. “One of his biggest articles for Sports Illustrated was about Charles Dickens.”“Merrill completed his Masters Degree on Dickens in Oxford,” recalled his friend from over the pond in England, Peter Holland, himself a 9-minute steeplechaser and XC runner, who knew Noden from 1974 when he joined the North London AC. Holland also used to house some of the American athletes in his home during the European summer racing seasons. Through Holland’s friendship with the late sports agent Kim McDonald, Spivey, Charles Marsala, and a host of others were taken care of by Holland,during that time. Despite sharing their love of the sport, Holland also saw first hand Noden’s passion for Dickens and watched him finish his Masters Thesis on the subject, which culminated in a grand Sports Illustrated piece, “Frisky as the Dickens”Always friendly and eager to help the sport, it was not surprising when, in 2011, Noden took the helm of his alma mater Princeton Day School, where he shared his passion and enthusiam for running with a new generation. In his interview upon accepting the job, Noden said, “I have met a lot of friends because of the sport. It may sound corny, but I want them to enjoy running. I have been around running my whole life and I have loved it. I want the kids to feel the same.”It’s passion like this which makes our sport so great, and Merrill Noden will be missed by many.
