{"id":3302,"date":"2012-02-25T10:44:33","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T16:44:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?p=3302"},"modified":"2015-03-13T15:34:26","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:34:26","slug":"mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/","title":{"rendered":"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though you never knew this person, you feel a combination of loss and gratitude.<\/p>\n

I had that experience a couple of days ago while scanning the New York Times<\/em> obituary. I learned that Steve Kordek died, and I felt strangely moved.<\/p>\n

Who was Steve Kordek? Let me give you the full title of the obituary column: \u201cSteve Kordek, a Pinball Innovator, Dies at 100.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Space Mission pinball game was one that Kordek worked on while with Williams.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now, I haven\u2019t played a game of pinball in years. But when I was in college, I spent several hundred hours around the pinball machine in my dorm. Frankly, I wasn\u2019t that good at the game, so the majority of my time was spent watching and cheering on my roommates and other pinball wizards. I have Steve Kordek to thank for those good times of male bonding.<\/p>\n

Kordek\u2019s story has some fascinating elements. He did not invent the pinball machine. Rather, at one point he made some crucial innovations that turned the obscure game of pinball into a widely-enjoyed pastime.<\/p>\n

The story of how Kordek got into this business is a delightful one. Here\u2019s how the obituary reads:<\/p>\n

On a visit to his hometown in 1937, he was walking down a street without an umbrella when a torrential rain forced him to step into the lobby of a building he was passing. It was the Genco company. A receptionist asked if he was looking for a job.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had never seen a pin game before in my life,\u201d Mr. Kordek told The Chicago Tribune<\/em> in 2009. For 45 cents an hour, he was soon doing soldering on the company\u2019s production line. He studied at the Coyne Electric School at night and began working his way up through the Genco engineering department.<\/p>\n

He ended up working on pinball machines for six decades, at Genco, Bally, and Williams.<\/p>\n

Today, I am wondering at how strange life can be, when an accidental step into a lobby changes, not just one life, but a whole industry and millions of lives. And I\u2019m thankful for the creativity of a man who made a small difference in my life.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though you never knew this person, you feel a combination of loss and gratitude. I had that experience a couple of days ago while scanning the New York Times […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8681],"tags":[16789,16790],"class_list":["post-3302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-bit-of-fun","tag-pinball","tag-steve-kordek"],"yoast_head":"\nMystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-02-25T16:44:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-13T20:34:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/files\/2012\/02\/pinball-space-mission-fli-5.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark D. Roberts\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/\",\"name\":\"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-02-25T16:44:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-13T20:34:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712\"},\"description\":\"Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/\",\"name\":\"Mark D. Roberts\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712\",\"name\":\"Mark D. Roberts\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark D. Roberts\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/author\/markdroberts\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies","description":"Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies","og_description":"Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/","og_site_name":"Mark D. Roberts","article_published_time":"2012-02-25T16:44:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-13T20:34:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/files\/2012\/02\/pinball-space-mission-fli-5.jpg"}],"author":"Mark D. Roberts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark D. Roberts","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/","name":"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-02-25T16:44:33+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-13T20:34:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712"},"description":"Have you ever had the experience of hearing about someone who died, someone you never met, yet someone who had a significant impact on your life? Though","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/2012\/02\/25\/mystery-man-who-impacted-changed-my-life-dies\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mystery Man Who Changed My Life Dies"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/","name":"Mark D. Roberts","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/62d6e44442f2a635357a90482770f712","name":"Mark D. Roberts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f811422ff59bfbbc4d6c185240a11129?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark D. Roberts"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/author\/markdroberts\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3302"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3302\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/markdroberts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}