Dad Passed Away May 9, 2014 Last Founder of Soundings crossed the bar

Born October 30, 1931 in Hartford, CT, Scott Hyfield passed away in Tampa, FL at 82 May 9^th.

Scott Hyfield met Jack Turner in 1956 when he was invited to go on a Memorial Day trip to the beach with Jack who was editor at The West Hartford News and co-worker cub reporter Judy Traver (who later became Scott’s wife) and a car load of friends.  Judy said, “Scott and Jack hit it off; we laughed all the way to the shore.  Jack, his friend Chris Todd had an idea to build fiberglass skiffs and they got Scott in on the venture.  That business did not take off, but the friendship did and that eventually led to Soundings.”  Of the Soundings partners, Scott was the hustler, the road warrior; the formal title was Advertising Director.  It was his job to get the papers out, put the coffee cans at the marinas, and deliver the newspapers, while selling ad space.  At the beginning, readers paid twenty-five cents for their Soundings, dropping their change in an old paint can at the marina, boatyard, or boat dealer. 

  He accomplished this feat in a Ford Country Squire Station Wagon, which, at times, also doubled as a place to sleep while on the road.  In the early years, he did not receive a salary.   By 1965 the paper really started to grow, and one can imagine with such fast growth, mistakes happen.  When production, Bill Morgan, made mistakes like pasting up an ad upside down, dad went ballistic because it meant he had to give a free ad the following issue.  Scott was the face of Soundings at boat shows up and down the East Coast, selling ad space and subscriptions with Sue Marrs.  Scott had a knack for securing boats to bring to events and in the water boat shows to use as Soundings’ base of operations, like getting a Bertram from Zeke Westerson in a trade for advertising credits or finding the houseboat that was used for a Soundings’ office during Block Island Race Week.  Scott aided in the expansion for the Great Lakes editions, and he set up the Fort Lauderdale office in the mid 70’s.  “The office there looked like an air traffic control tower; it had a 360 degree view of the marina.   Scott and his wife Judy often traveled to marine related events with the family.  Judy wrote stories about clam festivals and other marine events; Scott shot the pictures.  In the beginning, Scott acted as the paper’s photographer.  Later when Peter Barlow became the staff photographer for Soundings, the paper was in need of a cover photo of a skipjack on Chesapeake Bay.  Peter submitted several photos, but it was Scott’s shot of the Rosie Parks that made the cover, infuriating Barlow because he knew Scott was “three sheets to the wind” when he snapped the picture.  The Soundings crew worked hard; they lived hard; they had fun, and they produced a good product.  What more can you ask out of a career. 

Scott sold his shares in the publication in the mid-to-late 1980’s and remained active in the marine industry for a period of time before “officially” retiring in his 70’s.