Paul Luscombe '60 has published several books, including Howard Powerless: The Rise & Fall of the Howard Savings Bank, and Pills, Bills, & Parkinson’s Disease: Coping with the On-Off Syndrome.
According to Luscombe, McCormick was heavily influenced by Reagan-era economic theories. He set up subsidiaries whose main focus was on loans financing commercial real estate construction. In just a few years, Howard went from no holdings in this category to more than $700 million — an amount that exceeded the bank’s 130 years of accumulated surplus. But when the real estate market soured, almost all of the Howard’s loans became “non-performing assets” that essentially wiped out its surplus accounts.
Luscombe’s previous books include Play the Game Right, a biography of Butch van Breda Kolff, the Los Angeles Lakers coach who clashed with player Wilt Chamberlain and served as Lafayette head basketball coach from 1951-55 and 1984-88. Luscombe also wrote Give Dad a Mulligan!, a collection of short stories about golf. Luscombe’s books are available through bookstores and his web site (www.palpublishing.com).
Writing, says Luscombe, is a long-mothballed interest that dates to his Lafayette days. After starting out as a “cub reporter,” he became managing editor of The Lafayette.“Drawing up the layout, assigning stories to reporters, editing, writing an occasional editorial — all these functions were a wonderful part of my Lafayette experience,” he says.
As important, he learned to write as he typed, an unusual skill for a college student at the time.
“Writing on the ‘machine’ helps you think in print and leads to more interesting writing,” says Luscombe, a philosophy graduate. “As a fast (about 96 wpm) typist, I could write as fast as I could think. Writing long-hand always seemed to result in lost ideas.”
