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