Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter (BOTQ) Update
Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post #)
Followers of Thebeerchaser blog know that I periodically do a post about an individual or group that may or may not have anything to do with bars or beers but has an interesting story and made contributions to society.
Admittedly, I have not related these stories with the frequency I’d have liked in the last two years but hope to remedy that in 2024. I’ve known the majority of the individual “honorees” personally.
The lineup includes war heroes, athletes, media personalities, authors, academicians, civic activists and of course, lawyers. Some are pictured below, and their stories are related in the link over their name – and they are impressive.
Clockwise: The 1967 Oregon State Giant Killer Football Team; former NFL defensive tackle, mountaineer and executive, Craig Hanneman; Portland attorney and television personality, Jack Faust; writer and media personality, Amy Faust; the late author Brian Doyle;
Professional oboist (and my oboe instructor) Kelly Gronli; the late Princeton Professor Emeritus and author, Harry Frankfurt; Jan and Jack McGowan – founders of SOLV; developer and civic activist, Mark Edlen; the late Terry “Spike McKinsey, USMC-retired; Jud Blakely USMC. (#1 – #5)
To see a list of the thirty-five “honorees” from 2011 to 2020, check out the following link:https://thebeerchaser.com/2020/12/13/beerchasers-of-the-quarter-who-what-why/
And Then There’s Jay Waldron
One BOTQ – a colleague of mine for twenty-five years when I worked as the COO at the Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt law firm – is Jay Waldron. As stated in the original 2016 blog post featuring him as Beerchaser-of-the-Quarter, he graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law – one of the Nations’s top five at twenty-nine.
The older than average age was partly because he first completed a master’s degree at the school – but also because of his extracurricular activities which included boxing, playing rugby, teaching 7th-grade English in Appalachia and coaching basketball. (#6 – #8)
Counselor Waldron has contributed his time and served in leadership capacities in many civic and charitable activities, in addition to having a thriving Environmental and Natural Resources law practice.
At age thirty-seven he argued a case at the US Supreme Court and he’s also appeared at the Oregon Supreme Court and the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
His legal work has earned him recognition multiple times in the “Best Lawyers in America” and as an Oregon Super Lawyer and by the Oregon State Bar for pro bono service.
And he just received another accolade from his peers with the Oregon State Bar’s Environmental and Natural Resources Section 2024 Award. It recognizes an Oregon lawyer for leadership, service and outstanding contributions to environmental and natural resources law.
Carson Bowler, who was Jay’s partner for many years eloquently summed up why Jay was selected:
“For more than 40 years, Jay has been in the middle of some of the most important and consequential environmental matters and cases in Oregon and the Northwest. His superpower has always been to identify the core of a complicated case, and then to communicate that core to whatever audience was listening, be they legislators, judges or clients.
His career resume is astonishing; he’s been (aptly) called a grandfather of environmental law in Oregon, a title that finally befits his life season. But I think his lasting legacy will be the quiet influence he’s had on so many young lawyers who over the years have had the privilege of learning their craft from him.”
In his acceptance speech, Jay spent most of his time thanking his partners, his wife, Karen (see below) and others. Emphasizing the importance of being a well-rounded person, he stated:
“I’m probably the only environmental lawyer in Oregon who wrote a master’s thesis on “The Poetry of Emily Dickinson.”
(His favorite poem is “Because I Could Not Stop For Death.” – a poem that explores the themes of death, time and eternity.) (#9)
One of Jay’s attributes emphasized at the reception was his dedication to mentoring. And to further elaborate on Jay’s contribution to his own firm, take a look at this summary from his partner, Brien Flanagan, Chair of Schwabe’s Environmental and Natural Resources Practice Group:
“Jay was a guide and an advocate for young lawyers. A genius on developing the theme to win a case or the politics that wins approval from bureaucratic regulators. And Jay was always happy to tell a tale while sharing a brew.” (#10)
Brien’s reference to Jay’s story telling fits into this narrative quite well, because Jay has a vast storehouse of tales – and a preponderance of them, upon further research, appear to be true.
He is a frequent commenter on the bars and breweries I feature in my blog posts including the Ship Tavern, Jake’s Place, Jake’s Famous Crawfish bar, the Horse Brass Pub and most recently Malachy’s Irish Pub in downtown New York City.
I wrote about Malachy’s in my most recent post “Don’t Jump When You Can Dive – Part III”. Jay’s comment was:
“Was Malachy’s named after Malachy McCourt? He was a full-of-shit Irishman who played rugby and drank with me in NYC in the late 60’s and I also had a pint with his more famous author/brother Frank in McSorleys ,my then favorite NYC bar. Jay”
After researching, my response was:
“You never disappoint me, Counselor. Malachy’s in New York City, was in fact, opened by Malachy McCourt, who was indeed, a rugby player. See this video interview on the 50th anniversary of Fairfield Rugby Club. (#11 – #12)
Since the Topic of Rugby Arose….
I’ll start winding down this post by further exploring Jay’s athletic and related “activities” – chief among these being rugby. In 2017, he was admitted to the US Rugby Hall of Fame.
A 2017 article in the Providence College News (his undergrad alma mater) stated:
“(His contributions span) nearly five decades as a player, coach, TV broadcaster, and ambassador of the sport. He began his rugby career in 1968 as a University of Virginia graduate student, where he received his master’s degree, worked on his Ph.D., and then received his juris doctorate while serving as a player, president, and captain. Waldron played on numerous rugby representative teams and won the university boxing championship.”
Fortunately, when Jay was in the office, he chewed gum instead of glass, but his rugby gigs also included coaching the Portland Pig’s Rugby Club for five years. He announced rugby matches aired on Fox and ESPN in a four-year stint. (13 – #14)
You will have to check out the original blog post for the details, but Jay’s other pursuits give credence to Emily Dickinson’s theme of death:
River Rafting – three trips down the Colorado River and in 1996, he became the first Caucasian to row a “cataraft” through all the rapids of the Great Bend of the Yangtze River in China. Other trips included South America and Canada.
Motorcycle Trips and Racing – Twenty-one different road trips throughout the US have been supplemented by a journey around both South Africa and New Zealand and a trek from Chile to the southern tip of South America. He was also once clocked at 155 mph on his Ducati.
Wild Horse Riding – After a long and serious discussion at a bar with two rugby buddies, they decided to compete in the wild-horse ride competition at the Pendleton Roundup. (#15 – #17)
Death Wish?
Could Jay’s instincts and perhaps latent death wish be tamed? The answer to that question is in the affirmative. In 1966, Jay met his now wife of fifty-five years, Karen, while he was serving as a bouncer at a bar at Horseback Beach in Westport, Mass on the Atlantic Ocean.
“It was a Sunday night and she was not 21, but with that blonde hair and tan, there was no way, I wasn’t going to let her in.” (#18 – #19)
The Next Generation
Karen is also an athlete – both she and Jay have won Multnomah Athletic Club Decathlons in their age groups. And their son, Shane inherited their athletic talent and interest. He played college football at Tufts University as a tight end and long snapper from 1999 through 2002.
Starting as an operations intern in 2002 for the New England Patriots under Coach Bill Belichick, he then began what has become a very impressive coaching resume in college football – Notre Dame and UMass – eventually followed by the NFL including the Patriots, Washington Redskins, Los Angeles Rams and as Offensive Coordinator for the Seattle Seahawks from 2021 to 2023.
Early in 2024, he was named Offensive Coordinator for the Chicago Bears and as stated in an article on ESPN.com: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39368486/what-hiring-oc-shane-waldron-mean-bears
“The Chicago Bears know who will be calling offensive plays in 2024, and now they have to figure out which quarterback will be executing them.”
Chicago, with the first draft pick in 2024, is expected to draft former USC quarterback, Caleb Williams and Waldron will be a key figure in deciding whether he or current starter, Justin Fields will be calling signals when the season starts.
Based on the comments of sports commentators and media, don’t be surprised to see the younger Waldron as an NFL head coach in his next job.
Regardless, Karen and Jay Waldron will be making a lot of trips back to Chicago with good tickets at Soldier Field in addition to seeing their two grandchildren.
Odds are that Jay also knows some good Windy City bars which ruggers frequent and they can share stories – many of which will be in accordance with reality. (#20 – #22)
Karen told me that Jay doesn’t like small talk with strangers so I would tell him “Ask if they have a connection with rugby, rafting or motorcycles and the conversation always explodes.”
Well, that will not be necessary on his Chicago visits because one of his best long-term rugby buddies happens to be one Donald H. Haider – another member of the US Rugby Hall of Fame. (And looking at both of these guys made me wonder if the term Renaissance Man and Rugger is really a contradiction in terms.)
Haider, was on the rugby team during undergraduate school at Stanford. He played and coached rugby throughout his adulthood and earned his MA and PhD at Columbia University. He is now a business professor at Northwestern University‘s Kellogg School of Management. The professor has had an amazing career in government, business and academia. (#23)
And does he have ties to the Windy City! According to Wikipedia:
“Haider had worked as an advisor to Richard J. Daley during his mayoralty. Haider also worked as the Chicago city budget director (chief financial officer for the City of Chicago) under Jane Byrne from 1979 until 1980.[1][4][6][10]
In 1987, Haider won the Republican mayoral primary…During the campaign, in a desperate bid for press, Haider rode an elephant (an animal often used to symbolize the Republican Party) down State Street.”
The Weather Mark Tavern is a great rugby sports bar within walking distance of Soldier Field. I can see Waldron and Haider pre-function and post-function at this watering hole and telling tales of past scrums. (Fans cannot leave the Stadium during halftime…..)
Go Bears!
External Photo Attribution
#1 – #2. Oregon State University Athletic Department (https://osubeavers.com/news/2017/11/27/football-giant-killers-the-legend-50-years-later)
#3. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jack_faust.jpg) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. Author: Timlyman.
#4. University of Portland Magazine (https://sites.up.edu/portlandmagazine/brian-doyle/).
#5. Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harry_Frankfurt_at_2017_ACLS_Annual_Meeting.jpg ) Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license. Author: American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) 29 October 2018.
#6 – #8. Courtesy Jay Waldron
#9. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (Black-white photograph of Emily Dickinson2 – Emily Dickinson – Wikipedia) By Unknown author – https://s3.amazonaws.com/amherst-wsg/ED-dag-case-720dpi_big.jpg, This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer. (1846-47).
#10. Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt (https://www.schwabe.com/professional/brien-flanagan/).
#11 – #12. Malachy Irish Pub Website Photo Gallery (https://www.malachysirishpub.com/gallery).
#13. Portland Rugby Club (https://www.portlandrugby.org/about).
#14 – #18. Jay Waldron
#19 – #22. Karen Waldron Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/karen.waldron.12).
#23. Kellog School of Management (Donald Haider – Faculty – Kellogg School of Management (northwestern.edu).
#24. Weather Mark Tavern Facebook Page ()https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=510230207773421&set=a.510230187773423).
#25. Wikimedia Commons (Soldier_Field_S.jpg (4000×2250) (wikimedia.org) Licensed under the Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Author: Sea Cow – 2 July 2022.
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