Remembrances

The Florida Championship

January 9, 2023 | Florida Open All-Age Championship, Poetry, Remembrances | Comments

The Florida Championship is no more A glorious trial is over forever Like all things conceived by mortal man It had a beginning and has come to an end It was unique in many ways Embodied the best of the field trial game Wild quail on sloping prairie-like land Wire grass cover over sand Read more

Defining Moment – A True Thanksgiving Story from 1950

November 24, 2022 | Remembrances | Comments

Is there an event that defines you, that set your course for the rest of your life? At age 83 I look back seventy-two years to such a moment, one dramatic and thanks to Google and Wikipedia and the U S Weather Bureau, easy to research and document. Read more

Hunting Grouse

November 8, 2022 | Grouse Hunting, Remembrances | Comments

Hunting grouse when I was young was my escape. No matter my troubles, and they sometimes seemed many, I could make them go away for a day. I would rise at four and jump into my boots, orange shirt, khakis and briar chaps and load my dogs in the trunk of my Dodge Demon and drive west to Augusta, Highland or Bath County, turn out a setter dog at the head of a holler and walk up it. Read more

For Want of a Nail

October 19, 2022 | Other Things, Remembrances | Comments

My career reporting field trials is over with the discontinuance of the Florida Open All-Age Championship following Ted Baker’s death. I was honored to report it from 1995 through 2022. Over those years I reported many others, including the Continental Derby and All-Age Championships, the National Open Free-For-All and National Derby Championships, the National Amateur Free-For-All Championship, the Lee County trial, and, most memorably, the Quail Championship Invitational at Paducah from 1996 through 2006. Read more

Three Years That Mattered Most

September 14, 2022 | Remembrances | Comments

Having reached an age (84) when we tend to reflect on our past, three long-ago years stand out in my memory. I know the start and end dates of those years precisely: November 25, 1950, and February 24, 1954. The first was the day the Great Appalachian Storm of 1950 struck, the second the day of my father’s death from injuries in a car crash. You can learn all about the storm on Wikipedia. Read more

My Life as a Field Trial Reporter

August 30, 2022 | Other Things, Remembrances | Comments

My life as a field trial reporter began in 1995 when I was 57. Before that I had been a farmer (1950-1960) and a lawyer (1961-present). Reporter was by far my most satisfying profession. Why? Because it was fantasy. It allowed me to ride horseback and watch world-class bird dogs perform and compete across beautiful hunting grounds, handled and scouted by professionals seeking perfection, then write accounts of what I had seen. What could be more fun than that? For me, nothing. Read more

A Day Remembered From Summer 1952

June 25, 2022 | Remembrances | Comments

I had just turned fourteen. It was about four in the afternoon on a sunny Saturday. I had finished my farm chores, showered and dressed in clean Lee blue jeans, a white T shirt and black Converse high-top sneakers for a four-mile trip to down-town Christiansburg. Read more

Remembering Ted

May 31, 2022 | Poetry, Remembrances, Ted Baker | Comments

He was unforgettable Indefatigable Irrepressible Unconquerable Read more

Memories Of Scotland or A Virginia Farm Boy in Prince Albert’s Butts

May 24, 2022 | Other Things, Remembrances | Comments

These are memories of a magic shooting week in Scotland, September 6-12, 1987. To prevent “hunting back”, the names of the places and the players will not appear. Read more

Ted Baker

May 5, 2022 | Other Things, Ted Baker | Comments

On behalf of the family, thanks to all of you for being here. Today’s display of love and respect means the world to those of us who Ted left behind. I’m sure he is looking down with a big smile on his face and a tear in his eye. TED BAKER WAS NO ORDINARY MAN. Read more