Here is a brief report about Hartleb's fatal accident.

"... Man Killed In Wreck Near Ola

A Florida man was killed in a one-car accident on Highway 10 about six miles east of Ola last Thursday afternoon. State Trooper Richard Powell identified the victim as Glenn E. Hartleb, 45, Tampa, Florida, a passenger in the car.

The driver of the car, a Volkswagen, was Norman Whittaker, about 70, of Washington, D. C. He was taken to the hospital at Russellville with head injuries.

Powell said the driver of the car apparently lost control of it [and] hit a bridge abutment and over turned.

(Yell County Record Newspaper, Danville, Arkansas, pub. Sep 7, 1961)

MASTER!

'USCF Member Glenn Hartleb of Washington, D.C., was killed in an auto accident in Russelville, Arkansas returning home from the U.S. Open at San Francisco and enroute to the Tennessee Open at Nashville, last month. Originally from Erie, Pa., he resided in Washington, D.C., where he was employed as an accountant.

Known for many years for his devotion to the game, Glenn was a former USCF Membership Secretary - in the days when there were no salaries paid but plenty of hard work to perform. He competed in every U.S. Open Championship since Pittsburgh, 1946 and his 16 consecutive years of play had no equal in American chess. He was co-author of a highly authoritative end-game book and was considered one of the leading authorities in this country on that aspect of the game. His many titles won throughout the years are too many to enumerate here but his most recent victory included the capturing of the first U.S. Team Championship in Raleigh, N.C., in July.

One of his "trademarks" was his greeting to every player: "MASTER!" whether the player was actually a Master or just a woodpusher. He himself maintained a high Expert's rating throughout all of the years that he played and waivered very close to the Master's title but never quite made it. Calculating his rating from his past two performances, the U.S. Team Championship and the U.S. Open, the USCF Rating Statistician has informed us of a sadly ironic occurance. Hartleb's rating jumped to 2196 from his performance at Raleigh and his 7½-4½ at San Francisco gave him exactly what he needed to earn the magic number of 2200. After all these years Glenn is a Master but he'll never know it.'

from
'Glenn Hartleb Killed', Chess Life Nr.10, Oct 1961

For more see
http://uscf1-nyc1.aodhosting.com/CL...

<Two weeks later, Whitaker, Hartleb, and a young man preregistered for Nashville's Tennessee Open, making the long drive back from San Francisco. They drove back, but only as far as Arkansas, just outside of Memphis. There, the young man driving Whitaker's Volkswagen crashed the car into a concrete bridge abutment. Hartleb, only forty-nine-years-old, and sitting in the front passenger's seat, was killed instantly. Whitaker's injuries would plague him for the remainder of his days.

Many years later, in 1969 while writing for <Chess Life & Review>, Whitaker would summarize the accident that had taken the life of Glenn Hartleb. "Then tragedy struck," he wrote. "Returning from San Francisco, in Arkansas, the young driver of my car decided to knock down a concrete bridge! He was only slightly injured; Hartleb, sitting next to him, was instantly killed. I have been permanently crippled ever since. After the accident, I had to give up simultaneous chess as I was unable to do the necessary walking. I also ended many hours of teaching high school students."

Not surprisingly, Whitaker eventually found someone to sue. Legal papers stated Whitaker had suffered a "simple fracture of the middle third of the right femur," and hence was admitted to St. Mary's Hospital in Russellville, Arkansas, a facility owned and operated by Dr. Martin F. Heidgen. Whitaker would sue Dr. Heidgen claiming he did not properly set the fracture. The result of the medical malpractice, according to Whitaker's legal papers, was that he sustained a malunion of the fracture leading to further damage and suffering. By the time of his suit, Whitaker claimed to have a "dropped right foot in which the toes of the said foot will not raise or lift themselves. If plaintiff attempts to walk with bare feet, his right foot will not go flat. All of the weight of plaintiff must then rest on the outer or right edge of the right foot, causing excruciating pain." Whitaker concluded that because of the negligence committed he was "now a hopeless cripple." He was seeking $250,000 in damages. Whitaker would write others, later, that "my foot, a monstrosity, gives me constant pain.">

Hilbert reports Whitaker not only lost his case, but that Heidgen won his counterclaim for the unpaid balance of Whitaker's hospital treatment (he had only paid about half his bill). Costs were also awarded against Whitaker but there's no record of him ever paying up.

Tampa Tribune, September 2nd 1961, p.2:

<Ola, Ark. Sept. 1 (AP) - A 49-year-old Tampa man was killed in a one-car accident on State Highway 10 near here yesterday and two passengers were hospitalized with broken arms.

State police identified the victim as Glenn E. Hartleb, the driver.

Hospitalized at Russellville were Norman Whitaker, 71, and Charles Stevens, 12. Neither was in serious condition.

Officers said Hartleb apparently lost control of the car and it overturned.

He is survived by a sister, Mrs. Irma Schomacher, Erie, Pennsylvania.>

So where are we? The <Yell County Record>, quoted by <GrahamClayton> says Whitaker was the driver; <Shady Side> has the 'young man', apparently, Charles Stevens; the <Tampa Tribune> says Hartleb was at the wheel.

Hmmm, in the normal course of events one would defer to Whitaker and assume the other reports were mistaken in the initial confusion, but, hey, this is Whitaker we're talking about. I demand some form of corroboration! Did Hilbert have any?

Unfortunately, I could find no mention of his age. Twelve seems awfully young for such an adventure, but things were more relaxed in those days. Perhaps he was one of the "high school students" Whitaker mentioned. Or maybe he was 22 and all this is much ado about nothing.