At first, Karl Lorch’s questions about newspapers and journalism seemed strange. Every time we conversed, we’d soon be talking about my industry and workplace. He already knew a lot about it, and had more questions. Good ones. For example, he was aware of the old joint operating agreement between the Honolulu papers and was curious about the business aspects.
Then I was with him once when he started asking a woman about the dynamics of a salon at which she worked. How much a certain hairstyling he would never get would cost, how she got along with her co-workers and eventually about her family. Then it was our table’s turn to sing some songs.
That’s when I realized Lorch’s charisma went beyond the fact that he had been a professional football player, beyond his outsized Good-Time Charlie persona. Beyond his famous rendering of "Just A Gigolo."
It boiled down to his sincere interest in other people and what makes them tick — as well as the entire world around him.
Sure, he’d share great stories about his time with the Washington NFL team and other pro football tales from his stints with the WFL Hawaiians and the USFL Arizona Wranglers … but only if you really pushed.
He’d rather learn more about you than talk about himself.
Lorch, 63, died Monday after a long battle with cancer. Countless glasses are being tipped in his memory, as well as tears shed, in sorrow and laughter.
He was the life of the party and a jokester, but he was a serious conversationalist, too.
"He could talk for hours about things other than sports," said his good friend Jimmy De Fries. "Always keeping up with current events and loved to watch the History Channel. Very knowledgeable about many topics."
Jon Yoshimura said, "The first time he met me he treated me like we’d been friends for years."
"He used to like to talk to me about politics," added Yoshimura, the former Honolulu city councilman. "He had his own way of explaining things, which was both hilarious and profound at the same time. I’ll really miss that."
Lorch spent the past few months traveling when he could, especially to team reunions like Washington’s 80th anniversary last fall.
"Though he wasn’t feeling that well, he felt it was important to go and see his former teammates," De Fries said.
As a player, the Kamehameha grad from Nanakuli was a fierce defensive end. He played on the USC national championship team in 1972, teammates with Lynn Swann and Anthony Davis.
But Lorch was the kind of guy who also enjoyed playing a few minutes a game on the Anyplace Lounge basketball team in the Kaneohe 40-and-over league.
"He was really humble," De Fries said. "I talked to Calvin Hill, Eddie Brown and Bob Apisa yesterday and they all said the same thing, that he was full of aloha but a tough football player. He was a gentle giant who loved family, friends and football. Someone who lived life to its fullest. A great athlete and a brother to me and so many others."
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Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.
