Paul Soloway | Noted bridge player, 66

Paul Soloway, 66, a renowned bridge player with nearly 30 national titles and five Bermuda Bowl world team titles, died Nov. 5 in Seattle after years of diabetes and heart problems.

Since 1991, Mr. Soloway had been the American Contract Bridge League's top-ranked player in North America. At the time of his death, he had 65,511.92 master points, more than 6,000 ahead of the second-ranked player. At 300 points, a player is considered a "life master."

A native of Beverly Hills, Calif., Mr. Soloway learned bridge from his parents, and frequently cut classes to play while studying business at San Fernando Valley State College. He joined the bridge league in 1962.

After six months of regular work, he quit, and traveled the country playing bridge, hustling in bowling alleys, and betting on sports games, said Pam Pruitt, his wife of 30 years and former mayor of a suburb north of Seattle. They married shortly after meeting at a bridge tournament in Eugene, Ore.

Mr. Soloway was cremated with a deck of world championship bridge cards in his right hand, and Pruitt said his ashes would rest in two of his Vanderbilt bridge trophies.

- AP