Got some bad news this weekend. An old friend from college, Scott Bailey, died last week after being hit by a car on his bicycle. Sadly, he leaves behind a wife, Terri, who was also a college friend, and a new baby, Paul. Scott was starting his second year of law school at Wake Forest.
Scott was as talented of a person as I have ever known. He was a great all around musician; he could sing and play all variety of instruments including piano, guitar, mandolin, banjo, and drums. Scott eventually become a music teacher -- something I'm sure he enjoyed more than teaching the LSATs, which, incidentally, he was also qualified to do. Scott was also a great athlete, being a former #1 on the VWC tennis team and a nasty basketball player who could easily dunk at about 6'1". Moreover, he had an extremely deep and inquisitive mind. Scott liked nothing more than to sit around and talk music, philosophy, psychology or whatever was attracting his interest at the time. And unlike most college kids, Scott didn't spend hours in front of the TV. He used his free time to write songs and poems, learn new instruments, and read interesting books. When it came to those things that he was passionate about, he wasn't just driven, he was an unstoppable force of nature.
Scott had been playing music with my good buddy, Marc Murray, when I first met him during my freshmen year. We hit it off pretty well -- probably more as friends than as musicians because he was much much better than me back then -- and Marc and Scott invited me to join up. And so we formed the "The Sultans of Swing." The Sultans played every Wednesday night for a good two years at a dive bar in Norfolk called Batterson's. Usually, we made just enough money to cover our bar tab, but it was more fun than I had ever had in my life. And Scott was our leader. He taught us all the songs we played, organized most of our gigs, and assumed the responsibility of nodding at us (usually me) when the bridge or chorus was coming up. Scott was also our unquestioned speaker between songs, yet another thing that he was a natural at due to his confidence and sense of humor, but also because he had a great deep voice. Scott's personality was infectious. When I started college, I was painfully shy and reserved, but being able to hang out and play music with Scott, who was so naturally cool and confident, and Marc, who was equally confident if not as cool (at least not in the traditional sense), made it easy for me to come out of my shell.
I remember that during the first few months of playing music with Scott, he could be quick to tell me or Marc if we were screwing up, but he became much more patient as the years went on. By his senior year, he seemed to be much happier with himself and his life. Thinking back, I'm sure the change occurred when he started dating Terri. He adored Terri and it showed.
Scott and I corresponded by e-mail last year when he started law school. He had found my profile on my old firm's website and was joking about my goofy picture. I was looking forward to calling him up one day and addressing him as counselor. I'm sure he would've already had something to teach me about law. He was a good teacher and an even better friend.
