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Complete "saying goodbye to Larry Crawford"



I think my new e-mail program accidentally sent out an "unfinished" version
of this--my apologizes.

Yesterday, 4/16/02 several of us got to say goodbye to Carolina Bird Club
charter member Larry Crawford at a memorial service conducted by fellow
Carolina Bird Club member Rev. Dr. Richard (Rich) Boyd, Presbyterian
minister, here in New Bern.  Rich did a splendid job leading the service for
one of NC birding's class acts.  Larry would have been 73 yesterday.

A gentleman with a tremendous competitive spirit, Larry had the toughness of
a John Wayne.  Most people that didn't know Larry extremely well didn't
realize what a terrible heart condition he lived with.  He had undergone
over 19 heart procedures in the last 20 years.  He survived these last 10+
years on sheer grit and determination.  You never heard Larry bemoan his
condtion or complain about his chest pains but as Bob Holmes put it "He
could pop nitroglycerins like Chicklets".

Larry finished the race with 397 NC birds--his goal of 400 just out of
reach.  Many of us were pulling hard for Larry and hoping he'd live long
enough to see #400. He had gotten so weak in the last six months that most
days he didn't even get out of bed.  That was unless a new bird was
possible.  Larry had a great sprint to the finish line in that time frame,
though.  Olive-sided Flycatcher up at Duck, both Broad-billed and
Broad-tailed Hum., Sprague's Pipit at Cape Hatteras, Tropical Kingbird at
Pea Is (took him 4 trips- he misunderstood and went to the wrong pothole the
first 3 trips), Snowy Owl with Eric Dean's help at Ft Fisher, Ash-throated
Flycatcher at Alligator River, then finally the Green-tailed Towhee at
Southport.

Larry's competitive spirit didn't overide his sense for fair play and
honesty.  Although he glimpsed the towhee with Bob Holmes and myself on Jan
7, he refused to count it saying if he had not been told a green-tailed
towhee was present, he couldn't have identified the bird to species with the
brief look that he had.  Three trips to Southport later, he finally saw the
bird with John Fussell.

Larry lived in Beaufort for several years before moving to New Bern and
developed a great friendship and respect for John.  He told me on several
occasions that when he was a teenager he was "the John Fussell of
Greensboro" (his hometown).

The Snowy Owl also showed Larry's grit and determination.  Larry couldn't go
the day the bird was first discovered, but hooked up with Eric Dean for a
ride down the beach in Eric's 4WD the next day.  Unfortunately, the owl that
day was over a mile south of where you had to park, but Larry slowly trudged
his way down until he could get him in his scope.  Two miles round trip on
foot in that soft sand was an unbelievable feat for a man in his condition.

My favorite Crawford "tough" story was on Memorial Day weekend 1996.  Larry
and I decided about a week before to try to go offshore.  Brian Patteson
said he had 2 cancellations on Sunday so we took them.  No rooms were
available on the banks that late so Larry decided we'd just get up early and
drive.  He picked me up at 1:30AM. Larry drove us to Hatteras and we spent
the entire day offshore in a pretty decent northeaster.  Larry never sat
down the whole day offshore and refused to let me drive on the 4 hr trip
home.  On the way home he confided to me that he was scheduled to be at Duke
in 2 days to undergo his second major heart bypass surgery!  (By-the-way,
the day offshore had been rather dull until about 2:30pm when a Bermuda
Petrel was spotted off the bow--the first documented record!)

Last night was our regular monthly meeting of our local bird club--the Lower
Neuse Bird Club, and I was scheduled to presnt a program on the Breeding
Bird Survey.  I canned that program, and we had a delightful time sharing
Larry Crawford birding stories.  Bob Holmes, John Fussell and Rich & Susan
Boyd recalled their favorite Crawford tales as we laughed and reminisced.
And to Larry's credit, he bowed out of the race to 400 two ahead of his
Boy-scout buddy and chief competitor Bob Holmes--and he saw all 397 species
with the same pair of binoculars!

Larry Crawford certainly left his mark on birding in North Carolina.
Everyone that knew him has some wonderful stories and memories to share.  He
was a wonderful mentor and a great friend.  That's one of the things that
makes this such a terrific hobby--the special people you meet along the way.

Thanks for the memories, Larry.

Wade Fuller
fuller@coastalnet.com
Neww Bern, NC