Copeland
 

You guys are grieving over Al. That's good, but my memories of him have no grief attached. When I think of him, I see he and Bill Sirois (another great loss) setting the world offshore class one speed record at 148+ mph WHILE ON FIRE! Wish I had done that........ I am going to do a column on Al very soon for HB. What a character......

Looking forward to seeing your column.

My memory of Al comes from a race in the mid-80's at Grand Haven Michigan. John Delia was on the dock ripping his son's ass for something that happened out on the course. He was totally humiliating the kid right on the dock. Copeland is pulling the Popeye's boat into a slip- it's not even tied off and he's out of it and on to the dock. Makes a beeline for Al Jr. and hugs him like he's not seen him in a year. Jr. was probably 18 at the time. I remember thinking that I wanted a relationaship like that with my son someday. 20 some years later, I do. In part because I've always remembered that moment- knowing what was truly important.





I also remember Al Jr's stunningly hot, blonde 18-year-old girlfriend. :)

Almost forgot: Al`s favorite " Let the good times Roll "

That Stunningly Hot Blonde Is Now His Wife Of Many Years And A Personal Friend Of Mine..

Cool story, thanks for sharing.

I agree, celebrate the life. I can only hope when I pass people will remember the fun I had.

I too was first mesmerized by all the activity (Especially Al) in the 8os here at the Grand Haven Races

So many stories so little time

We have access to race footage from back in that time

Here is a bit of trivia ( TX you should know this )

Who was the Substitute commentator for the Grand Haven Races that did not often do that job??

I know when i was watching the Grand Haven Racing Footage races over this winter i was surprised because i forgot he was commentating

Any guesses ?

Walter Cronkhite?

Brownie your columns are the first thing I read each month. Great stories. Cant wait for this one. Thank YOU!
Quinlan

Al's funeral will be on Monday at the St Louis Church in New Orleans.

Substitute commentator for Grand Haven.......... Which Year?

Al Copeland story time...........

Early 90's and the level of excitement at the Key West World's had definitely faded from the "glory days"..... The bars were quiet and the streets half empty. A favorite hangout of the true racers was always the beach bar in the Pier House..... We were sitting there one evening with about a half dozen people lamenting the fact that in past years there was always so many more people at the place, when Copeland and his entourage showed up...... at about Midnight. Al yelled "Where's the PARTY?" and proceeded to settle in and join the B.S. Within maybe 15 minutes the place was crowded almost to the old levels. Al was eyeing a baseball hat with a blond ponytail sticking out the back that I had found in some dive on Duvall Street. He wanted to buy it for $100 and I declined the offer. Later he spotted a young couple who had been sitting off by themselves. After a few questions, he found out that they were newlyweds enjoying their honeymoon. Now let me state that these were a couple of clean cut midwest kids who had nothing to do with Al, the races or anything beyond being in a place they had dreamed of probably for years. After a few more questions it became clear that these were very simple people who were more than a little overwhelmed by Al and his approach. Al turns to the rest of us and says "How much you wanna bet , I can get her ( the young bride) to dance topless on a table within 15 minutes?".........

Within what seemed seconds the betting had swelled to about $15,000.....and my hat. Anyone sitting there could not possibly have pictured this simple homegrown young bride doing anything but slapping him in the face.

After all the bets were in, I can't recall who held the pot
............maybe Dave Gilmore........ Al proceeded to have a quiet conversation with the young couple. As we watched, both the bride and the groom looked at times angry, shocked, confused, upset, desperate.......and then, suddenly, they seemed to change. The husband began to talk in a plaintive way to his wife, she giggled a little, and responded hesitantly but then with some enthusiasm.

Bottom line the next thing we know....she's up on the table......topless and dancing to beat the band....(stereo actually).

After this display Al walks over to them has a quick word and they walk away...."Thanking" us all.....???????

Al came back and took the cash...and my hat..... and explained. .......

He split the pot with them and they wound up with $10,000 for a deposit on a house they were saving for..... The 10 grand put them over the top.

Like Barnum....Copeland had a grasp of the human condition and was the supreme hustler.....

That is one of dozens of Al Copeland adventures that I got to witness and participate in first hand.......and certainly they were only a tiny percentage of the fun Al had during his life.

Someday we can talk about his wife's birthday party cum press conference on another thread.

God Bless you Mr. Copeland.

Nice story T2x!

Rich,

I belive the year was 1986 or 1987

I have lunch with this guy a few times a year and never realized he was commentating in the past

Once we pulled out the old tapes and saw he was the guy doing the commentary I laughed so hard i had to head to his shop the following week just to rib him

It was classic for him and he says he didnt really like doing it that much

Rich does that narrow it down >??

AAny guess?

Great story Rich, please share some more Al stories.

How about the Al Copeland/George Morales contest in Key West most years to see who could spend the most money during race week?

How about the race from Sarasota to St Pete and back with Al and George side by side at 130 mph after 125 miles.

Peter Hledin narrated for me once - so did George Linder, Bill Click and Kathy Latham - depends on which event - of Course TtrippleX did it as well -

Allan - when filming that event in Sarasota - it was difficult to leave it - think we spent 20 minutes on those two boats - one of the Still shots we took was on Al's Yacht - a 50 footer airborne like a 21 footer ! Great fun - great people -

PHIL
[email protected]

Phil,, Yep it was Peter Hledin

cant miss the voice

once i saw it I had to rib him

those were the days

It wasnt long after that that i got rid of my 21 scarab and I bought my 38 scarab KV

i do miss those days

Any of you ever go to a race party at his house? Aretha Franklin, Fats Domino, etc.

Checkerboard flooring, Cougar Cub floating in the indoor pool, hundreds of balloons........ and great food and drink.... the hi lite of the annual race in New Orleans.

T2x

Brownie,

My invitation musta got lost in the mail :(

Sounds like some great times

That era is responsable for the abuse of my money on offshore boating for so many years

It never mattered to Phil who announced....... He edited with the sound off anyway.........:D:D:D...(inside joke).

The funniest moments we ever shared usually started when Phil began a conversation with " Richie......at the risk of annoying you...........". In truth we argued at times ( a lot), but it was always about making the product better and we are both passionate people. In the end I hope that passion came across in the tapes. I can assure you that we threw everything we had into them and, in some cases, risked our lives, to raise the bar to a point that had never before....nor since... been reached. Phil and I have tremendous respect for each other because we both went through some amazing adventures and , in truth, neither of us ever really blinked.

That amazing footage in Sarasota was one of those times where we all agreed to stay on those two boats, regardless of how many other boats might not have been covered that day. We were all about the story and that was one for the ages. We didn't compromise to make "numbers". In truth, at most races, you had to earn your way onto NNRT by being competitive and exciting. That's why we caught so much history and why a lot of also rans had limited clips. Something had to give.

T2x

i have just finished and submitted a nice Al story to HB. They need a pic to go with the story. I don't really have anything worthy. If you have a pic that you think is worthy, scan it and send it to me at: [email protected] . we will credit you for it.

Here's one

Not to hyjack but, thats what makes this place so special. Nobody involved in any sport would a) think to do that and b) make it happen. God bless all the maniacs here I call friends :) Keep on rockin.....

They were wonderful times
 

We never had a Script - they (the narrators) said what they saw - called it live - I miss those days - the people - friends, the fun - am glad we did, what we did - and when we did it - We were at the right place at the right time - and met some really nice people along the way - so many that I wont even start to mention names - but they know who they are !

PHIL -
[email protected]

Phil,

Are you near me ??? your screen says SL

do I know you ??

who has the pic of the rooster tail showering the bridge ..

That would be this one. Wasn't a Mercedes hosed down as well? Sarasota.
Bob

Sorry about poor pic quality.

here's one

Scott Barnhardt may have one that will work...he is busy with other arrangements now but I will ask him when I go in on Friday.

Spring Lake, New Jersey -

I may know you - dont know - private message me your name -

PHIL

Back to Al........

Little known fact.....
When Joe Imprescia got married ( to the lovely Debbie) on the deck of Bob Kaiser's Cougar in Key West, Al opened up his Yacht, "The Cajun Princess", to the young couple, which was adjacent to the race boat (altar?). Debbie was given the run of the yacht and crew for hours, and she had a lavish environment to put on her bridal gown and "get ready". It doesn't take a genius to figure out that having a World class yacht at her disposal could really make this unusual wedding into something really "special" for a bride on her day. It also helped that she didn't have to travel miles from their hotel room in the heat dragging her various acoutrements.

Al also allowed an unsavory video crew (us) to stomp all over the "Princess" for precious camera angles (this was the world's only "narrated" wedding video...."Do you Debbie take this lunkhead in chinewalking and in cavitation"........).

During the ceremony I looked over at Copeland's big grin and realized he couldn't have been more proud and/or happy, if it had been his own family getting hitched. A truly generous guy...

T2x

GOOD ONLINE ARTICLE:

Al was our Elvis
Copeland's over-the-top life was a perfect fit for his fun-loving hometown
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Chris Rose
There were many terms applied to the larger-than-life character named Al Copeland: Larger than life, for instance. Over the top. Flamboyant. Ostentatious. In your face. Outlandish. A dreamer. A doer. A hustler. And, perhaps more than anything else: one of a kind.

There is only one term that did not apply, that he did not understand, that he would not abide: Moderation.

Copeland's life was marked by a carnival of controversy, wild schemes, wild rides, bright lights, fast cars and faster women. A New Orleans life. An American life. A never-say-die kind of life.

Until, well . . . he died.

In Al Copeland style, refusing to go gently into the good night, he jetted off to Germany in recent weeks to find a cure for a rare form of cancer. Unlike most of the ambitious plans he hatched over the past several decades, this one didn't materialize. Thus, his epitaph will read that he only met two nemeses in this material world that he could not defeat: cancer and divorce lawyers.

There's that old quote about how most men live lives of quiet desperation. Not Al. He lived a life of very loud desperation. Desperate to be noticed. Desperate to go fast. Desperate to be rich. Desperate to be powerful. Desperate to make a difference. Desperate to be remembered.

By most measures, and certainly by his own yardstick, Copeland was an enormous success, a classic rags-to-riches story, a guy who simply wouldn't quit.

There's no question that Copeland's critics matched his admirers in mass and volume. But his failures were all born of the same confidence -- or was it hubris? And does it matter? -- that led to his many accomplishments and achievements.

It's impossible not to admire the guy, what he did, how he did it and who he made himself to be. That song "My Way"? Yeah, that was his song. Except he was no Sinatra. He was our Elvis.

And as for Graceland . . . well. I remember the first Christmas after Katrina. It was a tough season all over. Hard times in a dark city.

My kids and I were driving around town to see what Christmas lights we could find. Naturally, we ended up at Copeland's house. It was as it always was. A fairy tale. Over the top. The Great Escape.

There was a sign in front of the house that year. It was signed by Copeland and it had an inscription about how it was more important than ever before that he put on a show for the children of the community. It had words like "sacrifice" and "spirit" and "gratitude" and all the right notes.

I cried when I read it. I cried a lot back then.

I wrote the inscription down but have long since misplaced it. I wish I still had it. I remember reading it and thinking: God bless this guy. He didn't have to do this. It was an easy time to opt out. Many did. But he didn't. Because it mattered. Because it's what Al Copeland set out to do: to set his house, the city, the world, his life ablaze.

My kids dug this guy. And they didn't even know who he was, what his name was. And now they do.

I told my daughter on Monday about Copeland dying and she said to me what I imagine a lot of local kids are saying to their parents this week: "Will we get to go see his house anymore?"

I realized it was like telling a kid that Santa Claus was dead.

"That's all right, daddy," she said to me. She can always tell when I'm getting choked up. Then: "He was a great man."

I said, "He made people smile."

My daughter, she hugged me.

Funny, shedding a tear over Al Copeland. I reckon after the many times I wrote about his lustful foibles in this newspaper over the past two decades -- he was an easy target for a newspaper columnist, to be sure -- that he would find that more than ironic.

But I'm a big fan of over-the-top. A big fan of celebration. A big fan of lust for life. A big fan of Big Fun.

Copeland epitomized these things. He was one more guy who put his life on display for all to see, another example of talking too much, living too large and laughing too loud -- those New Orleans attributes that sometimes make folks elsewhere a little leery of this place.

He made a difference. He was impossible to miss. He will be equally impossible not to miss.

Merry Christmas, Al, wherever you are.

The Chicken King has left the building.

EXTREMELY well said!

I very rarely am impressed by someone else's writing........ but this is a beautiful piece and captured Al to a "T"......IMHO

T2x

Thanks dellato, that was great to read. I have only had the pleasure of meeting the man a few times. First time Mike Stancombe introduced me to him out on the balcony at Teasers down in Key West, second time was at the OPA awards in Destin. We should dedicate the race season to him, he will truly be missed.

Nice story delleto Thanks