As the younger brother of Jimmy and son of Ward and Merceina, no one would have faulted him for doing his own thing. But instead of picking up a bat or a club, he picked up a racket and followed in his family's footsteps, right to the courts. 

He won the Missouri Valley boys 14, 16, and 18 doubles titles. He and Jimmy won the 1968 USTA Missouri Valley men's doubles championship. Then he took his game west to the University of California, Berkeley. 

Berkeley set him up for a pro career that took him to the U.S. Open, the Australian Open, and Wimbledon. In 1971, he made a clean sweep at the National Public Parks Championships, winning singles, then teaming with Paul Tobin to take the doubles title. 

He became an international clinician for the USTA and State Department in 1974 and 1976. By 1983, he was ranked No. 2 in men's singles and No. 1 in mixed doubles nationally in USPTA, playing alongside his wife, Chris. That's how Parkers do it. 

Larry is done competing, but he and Chris continue to eat and sleep tennis, as owners of Courtwood Inn, a tennis-themed bed and breakfast in Murphys, California. 

(1999)