Farewell to Leading Backgammon Player, Belle Pronman

Before being struck with a stroke and ultimately dying of cancer November 19, 2006, 43 year-old Belle Pronman could not even reply to the messages left by her friends on her answering machine, which offered encouragement due to her fragile condition. Even her famous wit and charm, which became the main attraction of most local clubs in the area, is absent and her heyday of selling jewelry on the streets of Jamaica Plains was put to an abrupt end. Her death did not come as a surprise to many of her loved ones, but it still did not make things easier for those she left behind. Her death left a chilling sadness on the Center Street of Jamaica Plain where she sold trinkets for almost 2 decades.

Her friends banded together to name a place in Jamaica Plain in her memory called "Belle's Park". One of Belle's friends, Faye Simon, commented that by naming a spot in memory of Belle, it is like she is still with them. Ordinary people may not notice the sign immediately in front of the J.P. Licks Ice Cream Parlor, but that spot is where Belle Pronman stood selling jewelry for over 20 years. Vince Petryk, the owner of J.P. Licks, commented that Belle looked like an 'old fashioned Jamaican hippie" selling her jewelry on the street.

Given her background, it is hard to understand why Bell became that way. Pronman was a rabbi's daughter, raised in the state of New Jersey. She studied at Brandeis University from 1980-1982, but before her 20th birthday, she suddenly dropped out of school. Although she quit school, according to Bill Robertie, the former President of the New England backgammon Club and a two-time World Champion of the game, Belle Pronman had a very sharp and keen mind.

Belle was considered one of the best Backgammon players in New England and was more than capable of beating players who were stock brokers and lawyers in the Backgammon Club. Pronman was not particularly close to her family, so she chose to work independently. One of her friends, Barbara Root said that Pronman was not motivated by how much she would earn. She did not care if she earned only $40 or even less. She became a neighborhood landmark by being a regular seller in the area.

Only Belle Pronman's closest friends know when her illness began. Adrienne Feldman, a close friend and fellow resident of Jamaica Plains, said that Belle had a small brain tumor for the remainder of her life, but on 2004, the tumor began to appear aggressively and placed itself in her brain's hypothalamus. It got to the point where Belle could not even remember what day it was.

Fellow Backgammon player, Herb Gurland, said that Belle personally believed that even an operation could not save her. After the operation, she slipped into a coma that lasted over a month. She has also suffered bleeding in her brain due to the stroke. She was able to awake from her coma, but ultimately, she could not be saved. Adrienne Feldman added that the memorial they have built will serve as a great remembrance of how Belle lived her life to the fullest.

12/07/2006 12:40 PM
Ashley Young