So, here I am again...
My Dad passed away on April 12, 2019, age 85.
Four generations
Count III, Count IV, Beau V, Kaysen Baird I
My thoughts... In no particular order.
Daddy taught me how to sail. I learned in the Santa Rosa Sound, off the coast of Fort Walton Beach. The Darling family had a house on the sound, and our family along with the Radcliffs and others would summer there. The first boat I learned to sail was a Sunfish - a 1 or 2 peron, single sailed little boat - all of 14 feet I think. There was a spoils island a couple of miles to the west, and we would sail out to it, claim it in the name of the Darlings and sail back.
When we moved to Birmingham, it was not long before Daddy had found a yacht club up the road in Pell City on Lake Logan Martin. He got himself a real sailboat. We learned how to sail this bigger boat in the lake, learning about flakey winds and where the shallow spots were.
We also brought the Sunfish along, and I sailed it along with the other teenagers of the club. The club had an annual regatta, and all the adults would race their big boats. Us chilins sailed our little boats. And I won my first race. Which was good and bad. Good, because I won. Bad because the other kids got insulted that the new kid beat them all. Oh well.
Daddy also introduced me to hunting. I was not a big hunter. But I got taken along anyway while the bigger boys bagged their stags. I have a book filled with pictures of the Darling and Radcliff men standing proudly next to their kill for the day. I did ok shooting quail, but not the big stuff. And I loved skeet shooting, which required only skill, not stealth.
Daddy also took me flying. He had a private pilot's license and he and a few friends shared a small Cessna airplane. My most vivid memory of flying with him is when he and a good friend Riley Taylor came to school one day and picked up young Riley and myself. Out to the airport and away in the sky we went. Flying was always fun and I will always savor our times together soaring in the skies of south central Alabama.
Daddy moved the family from Andalusia to Birmingham where he went to work for a company that did creative work for different companies. I'm not sure how, but they managed to get work from some of the General Motors divisions, writing speeches and slide shows and other kinds of creative things. As the business relationship became stronger, he spent more and more time in Detroit. And he expanded the kinds of work his company did for GM. That eventually became writing movie scripts for the new cars that Pontiac was unveiling each year.
And then the most amazing thing happened. I got to spend two summers with the film crews to shoot these films! I was a flunky, but it was amazing! I learned so much and had such a great time! I also earned an official nickname - "Duke". That name was given to me since it was difficult sometimes to tell which Count was being referenced in conversation. Those two summers set my college path in stone.
He let me "work" at the Chevy dealership some. I liked things like cars and had a good time trying to stay out of the way. But being the grandson of owner had its perks.
So I'd say that Daddy showed me the world in interesting ways. He gave me experiences that most would never have. At the time, of course it all seemed just normal and everyday. Looking back it was amazing - just like the man who is Daddy.
Phil Darling
Lost in the Stars!
