07/07/07
Stephen Baumann column: O, lucky man: Jack Spiller's rolling 7s


Talk about luck.

Jack Spiller was born on the 7th day of the 7th month.

He's 77 today, in Ought-7 of the second millennium of the Common Era.

Just to recap: That makes him 77 on 07-07-07.

So, the question must be asked:

Are you feeling lucky, Jack? Are you?

"Ah, I don't know," he says. "Not really anything extraordinary."

Ever played the lottery?

No, but wife Ruth does, he says. Just won $20.

Gamble?

Yep.

"I like to play blackjack and craps. Ruth likes the machines," he says.

Just two weeks ago, the Manasota Key couple took the gambling cruise out of Fort Myers for fun. No big deal.

Won $400.

They like casinos too. They roll Biloxi, Atlantic City. Ruth's usually the big winner.

Biggest payday? $1,000.

Call her Lady Luck.

And then there's last Sunday at the hall in Port Charlotte.

Bingo! Jack took home $300.

And Thursday, he played won $17 on B7.

Another time, he recalls, he wasn't paying attention at the bingo hall when they announced the door prize winner. He heard his numbers at the last second.

Another 500 smackers.

Maybe this explains it:

His mother was Irish.

Here's a tricky question: Ever lucky in love, Jack?

"I've been lucky in love since 1951 when I got married," he says.

His sweetheart remembers other moments.

There was the time early in the marriage Jack was driving his old, worthless clunker off to the junkyard. When he stopped in the road to talk to his daughter, a telephone truck backed into the car. Totaled. Jack walked off with $800 in insurance money.

Then there were the service years. Jack was a paratrooper and made 21 jumps.

"Every time I jumped I felt I was lucky I landed," he says.

Fortune's ill wind brought him to Nevada as an Army observer during the atomic bomb tests. He was there watching the mushroom clouds rise above the desert.

But he doesn't believe it was the radiation exposure that led to his eventual Lou Gehrig's disease.

Still, even with that debilitating disease, he feels he's been lucky.

"He got it in 1985, and he's lived all this time," Ruth says.

Jack's left hand is weak and slightly deformed. Still Mr. Lucky says, "I can still play golf."

And it could be worse. He's had two friends die from ALS, so he knows he's in overtime.

Then there's Ruth, diagnosed with cancer five years ago but still going strong herself, even with chemotherapy treatments.

"We're doing fine," he says.

Reflecting on his 77 years, Jack says, "I guess I can say I've been lucky. We have three children and they're all healthy." Plus 7 -- count 'em -- 7 grandchildren.

And, Ruth chimes in, "We're lucky to be here. We bought this place for a song, we've got no bills, and it's inexpensive to live here."

Today, Jack will push his luck.

"We're going to gamble. I'm serious," Ruth says.

"We'll probably win," Jack adds.

Bet on it.
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