Address to HSC Senior School
Friday, September 9, 2011
By Mr. Ron Bremner ’67
MR. JUSTICE RANDALL ECHLIN ’69
Justice Echlin had been selected earlier this year as the 2011-2012 Alumnus of Distinction at Hillfield Strathallan College. Sadly, he passed away before the award could be presented. Former Alumnus of Distinction, Ron Bremner, delivered the following remarks to a packed Artsplex Theatre of Senior School students, faculty and parents.
A couple of weeks before he left us, Randy Echlin sent me an e-mail and asked me for a favour; would I prepare and deliver some remarks on his behalf at this event? Randy indicated in his note that his cancer had progressed to the point where he knew he would not be able to attend to accept his award in person.
Although Randy Echlin received countless honours, accolades and awards over the course of his academic and professional career, this award today, in this place, held special significance for Randy - it really meant a lo to him.
As Randy’s brothers, Mark and Paul, who are with us today, would attest: HSC always held a special place in his heart. You see, for Randy, this was ‘where it all started’ for him. Right here on this campus; he knew it, he acknowledged it and he celebrated it. He was always quick to tell people how big a part this school played in his life; that it was at Hillfield Strathallan College that he learned some very basic, but very important, fundamental values, which he would carry with him throughout his life.
Things like:
§ his respect for rules, hard work and details learned under the watchful guidance of Headmaster, Colonel John Page
§ the importance of self-discipline
§ the premium he placed on people and relationships, and the special bond and genuine affection he felt for people like Ted and Marilyn Helwig and Geoff Steel.
§ the value of teamwork and teammates - that special feeling of accomplishment when you ‘win’ together
§ and perhaps most of all, those trademark Randy Echlin qualities of fair play and respect for others - qualities first forged by his Mom and Dad, and then further developed at HSC
I told Randy that I would do whatever he wished, but I also told him it would not be easy. With typical Randy enthusiasm and salesmanship he said, “Ron, just think of it like this. I’ll make you famous.” “How so?” I asked. “Well, he said, I’m going to make you the answer to a special HSC trivia question, as in, ‘which HSC Alumnus won the Distinguished Alumni Award once, but gave two acceptance speeches in two different years?’ Just think of it,” he said.
How could I refuse?
My problem is that for all his adult life, first as a distinguished Labour lawyer and later as a highly-esteemed and respected Judge, Randy poured his whole being into trying to do whatever he could in a continuous search for ‘fairness.’ This was someone who didn’t just want to do things right. He wanted to do the right thing. Standing here to day it just seems so ironic that this outstanding individual who placed such a premium on fairness is not here to accept his award
and somehow....that just doesn’t seem fair!
Randy loved HSC. He loved his family. He loved ‘the law’ but, as the Head of College mentioned and as the program details, he also loved baseball. He was absolutely ‘over the top’ in his love of America’s favourite pastime.
People like Tom Valcke, President of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, speak in reverent tones when Randy’s name is mentioned. Tom credits Randy with much of the success of the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, a small, basically unknown edifice in the small town of St. Mary’s, Ontario fighting to raise funds to survive against bigger tourist attractions in large cities.
As Tom would tell you, Randy Echlin was always there for us. Encouraging everyone and cheerleading their efforts. It didn’t matter to Randy that they didn’t have a fancy building or an unlimited budget.
Randy believed in them and he wanted to help them get a permanent home they could be proud of so that they could display the history of baseball in Canada. Every year Randy would volunteer to pick up visiting baseball VIPs at the airport in Toronto and drive them to tiny St. Mary’s to attend special baseball functions. He never told them he was a famous Labour lawyer, prolific author or a prominent, widely respected Judge. He just introduced himself as ‘Randy,’ a dedicated volunteer who loved baseball, an ordinary guy who wanted to help and did he love baseball! He went to Blue Jays games religiously. He went to all their functions. He collected memorabilia, cards, jerseys, autographed balls. He had a collection so special that it will most probably have a featured spot in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
I think Randy would tell you that to him baseball was more than a game. It was a 9 inning teaching moment; a series of important life lessons, strung together around a kids’ game, played by grown men. Randy used to say, “there is a lot we can learn from baseball.”
First, baseball teaches us to focus on ‘what we can control’. In baseball, like life there are many things out of our control. The umpire’s calls, the weather, the play of our teammates, what the media and the fans are saying. The same is true in life. We can end up worrying about so many things that are out of our control that we waste a tremendous amount of energy and time. Instead we’re better off focusing on those things we can control. Our attitude and our effort and when it came to attitude and effort Randy Echlin had both in spades. He had an infectious positive attitude. Always making those around him feel better. Picking up people when they were ‘down’ and supporting others when they needed a lift.
His work ethic was legendary to those who knew him. Whatever he lacked in natural ability he made up for with hard work. In school he studied tirelessly and in his chosen field of law he labored long and hard to represent his clients to the very best of his abilities, leaving nothing to chance. While he was ‘on the bench’ Randy pored over his ‘reasons’ to come up with decisions that ‘defined’ fairness, clarity and sensitivity. He chose his words with the same precision a surgeon chooses his instruments.
To Randy, baseball also shows us very clearly that ‘failure’ is a part of life. The very best baseball players in the game usually get out at least 65 % of the times they get to bat. In baseball, like life, the question is not ‘if you will fail.’ That is a given; the real key is how will you handle failure? Will you get down, withdraw and be negative, or will you learn from your mistakes, stay positive and keep trying?
Someone once said that 90% of life is just showing up. Thomas Edison, one of the world’s greatest inventors once remarked, “So far I have discovered 1134 ways ‘not’ to make a light bulb.” Edison didn’t quit. He didn’t get down on himself. He kept at it he persevered because he knew that every failure got him closer to success. A lesson all of us can take to heart. Someone asked him, “How does it feel to have failed so many times?” He said, “I have never failed. The light bulb was an 1135 step process!”
Another great lesson from baseball is that a game and a season are really a series of ‘ups and downs.’ Some innings will be good, some not so good. The highs and lows of a game and a season mirror the highs and lows of life. Let’s face it, some weeks and some years are better than others but, it’s important to keep perspective. Never get too high when things are going well and don’t get too down on yourself when things take a turn for the worse. In a game, in a season, in a career things have a way of evening out you need to be patient.
Don’t get caught up in your own ‘hype’ when you’re doing well or get too ‘down’ when you’re having a tough time. A lot of it comes back to attitude. In many ways ‘your attitude determines your altitude.
One more thing that we can all learn from baseball is to focus on the ‘inning we’re in’. Don’t get fixated looking too far ahead in the game or in life for that matter. Too many people are so worried about the end of the game or the end of the year that they fail to appreciate and enjoy the journey along the way. People get on a train or plane or in a car and focus all of their attention on the destination instead of enjoying the experience of getting there. Randy often talked about the fact that those people miss so much in life. You hear people talk about ‘taking the time to smell the roses.’ Randy Echlin took the time with friends, family, and travel. He was always in motion. I used to tell him that he was the only guy I knew who made caffeine nervous!
Randy attended many fantasy baseball camps where he and other men from all walks of life would pay big money to go to Florida. put on a major league uniform, go up to bat against major league pitchers, catch fly balls in the outfield and generally pretend that they were a lot better baseball players than they actually were.
Randy’s nickname at these camps was ‘mummy’. Not because he was always calling home to his mother. He was ‘mummy’ because Randy, just a little out of shape, would ‘over-pretend’ to the point that after the first day of the camp he would twist an ankle or a wrist and require the trainer to ‘tape him up’ just a bit. After the second day Randy would start to feel his age a bit and require a little more tape for his knees and a shoulder perhaps. Well, you get the idea. By the fourth day of camp Randy had so much tape wrapped around him he looked like an Egyptian mummy. One of his buddies told me that by the end of camp the only thing visible with Randy was two little ‘slits’ in the tape where his eyes were.
Like a good umpire in baseball, Judge Echlin played no favourites when it came time to announce his decision. If you want to spend an entertaining couple of hours sometime, Google Randall Echlin and read some of his decisions from the bench. In one famous case he tore into the Toronto Dominion Bank for foreclosing on the home of a hard-working couple who were the victims of mortgage fraud. He came down on the side of the ‘little guy’ but, in another case he introduced his reasons for siding with a company against an employee with countless disciplinary problems by writing, “to err is human, to forgive is not necessarily company policy.”
Randy would want me to congratulate the Prefects on their installation today and to wish them the very best of luck with their responsibilities in the year ahead.
Remember; exercise fairness, enjoy the experience - have fun, know that it’s ok not to be right all the time - just do your best. Work hard, remember that a positive attitude can overcome a lot and stay focused. Don’t quit when things get tough. Remember Edison and Babe Ruth. Respect everyone. Not everyone is as fortunate as you are. Treat everyone as you would want to be treated. Make this a very special year.
Ladies and Gentlemen it’s an honor to represent a special person like Randy Echlin. I wish he could be here to receive this honor in person but, somehow I feel he’s here in spirit.
Randy had one special line that he wanted me to deliver for him. He said, “Ron, please tell them that no one is less deserving or more appreciative of this award than me.”
Ron Bremner ’67