Originally published in the March 2011 Issue #101 of “The Flyer,” the Cachuma Lake Nature Center Newsletter
By Linda Taylor
Neal Taylor had charisma. Repeatedly over the years men and women, many of whom he did not immediately recognize, approached him wherever we went offering hugs and warm handshakes, striking up conversations and reminiscing about long past relationships that they had with him. Others, especially children, came to believe they were his best friends within minutes of meeting him for the first time, Neal had a way of charming almost anyone with his big smile and his ability to engage folks with his stories and tricks or skills. (One of them was me.)
At the Fred Hall Show, Neal shone. He pulled people in, never waiting for a stranger to open the conversation; always making eye contact with the passing man or child. By the end of two or three minutes, that person knew where Cachuma was and had a Trout Derby registration form in his hand. Probably when they later arrived at Cachuma, they asked for Neal. His colorful stories on the Lake Cruise and in the Nature Center are stuck in some folks’ memories; they will remember the amole plant, not by its scientific name but by its Chumash uses which Neal could reel off in his sleep: They may also remember -fortunately or not—one of the dozens of stories about how he lost his finger…..does anyone really know the truth?
Fishing and Neal are synonymous. Time and again with a class of twenty or thirty flyfishing students behind him I saw Neal cast a fly into a stream and pull out a trout on that first or second cast. At first folks thought it was luck; the second and third time they realized they were watching an expert.
Every individual who reads this has a bit of Neal in them—in their skill set, whether it be in their personal poise, their interest in the out of doors, their knowledge that they “broke their wrists” while casting or how to interact with a group of visitors to the Nature Center. Neal was beloved by his children Paul and Susan and his granddaughters Katie and Jennifer and he was besotted and enthralled by them. Paul has inherited the gift of teaching casting and “his girls,” the easy, welcoming smile. Neal and I shared our love for the outdoors; we shared those domestic routines that all couples have- watching the news and the Lakers in the evening, reading the newspapers at the morning breakfast table. Trips in the American west and trips abroad, Cachuma Thanksgivings with friends and family, weekend drives with his dear English setter Hap are the kinds of things that bound us together.
Neal was loving, generous to a fault and much beloved. Being Neal’s wife is one of the most incredible roles any person could possibly imagine. Though the last year was complex from his health viewpoint, Neal’s last days were very normal. He
died, according to his doctor, with no sense of pain. Isn’t that how we all want it to be?
If you have any stories about Neal that you would like to share, please email us at info@clnaturecenter.org or call +1 805-693-0691
